Pokemon Neo Evolution: Sam's Yinji Journey
by Regal290
Summary: When Professor Willow called Sam and his twin, Susumu, he didn't go because he was "busy," and now he's scrambling to catch up to his brother, all the way around The new Yinji Region. Of course, his winning the Yinji League would only be an added bonus.
1. Chapter 1

Sam's brown eyes were glued to the screen of his computer. Click after click, he commanded the virtual pokemon with little effort. _Man_, he thought, brushing his short, untidy black hair out of his face, _this game is awesome! I get to have a whole pokemon team before I even leave!_ Sam kept clicking for what seemed like hours, until there was a knock on his door. "Sam?" A voice asked. "It's me, Kin."

"Who?"

"Kin, your twin brother. You've been in there a long time. I think you should get off the computer, ok?"

"Ok, Hang on... Oh, so close, Cardijet!"

"Sam, it's been eight solid hours! We need to go see Professor Willow!"

"Yeah, sure, hang on!"

At this, Kin entered, his crystal blue eyes filled with concern, and his hand clutching his Topaz stone necklace. "Sam, Why does this hold interest for you?"

"I don't know, it just does."

"Sam, I'm going to see Professor Willow now, ok? He said it was very important. You that our tenth birthdays are in a few days, so this could be a giant thing!"

"Yeah, sure. See ya later!"

Kin sighed and exited the room, and Sam kept clicking away. Thirty minutes later, Sam saved his progress and clicked off the computer. "Now that that's over, I wonder what was so important that Professor Willow had to talk to us about… I'll go check it out."

Just then, he heard his mom's voice. "Sam, time for dinner! Get off the computer!"

Sam sighed. "I guess Professor Willow will have to wait… COMING, MOM!"

Sam took the stairs of his two story house two at a time. He inhaled deeply. "I smell Pigrel Burgers, am I right?"

Sam's mom nodded, her long brown hair neatly tucked behind her ears. "Yep, but Kin left so soon that I never got to give him his… I hope he ate." Sam smiled and sat at the table. "It's ok, Mom. Kin never seems to be hungry."

Sam's mom also sat down. "I know, but Kin is so headstrong and reckless… If you see him, don't tell him I said that."

Sam smiled, but then sighed. "I miss dad. He goes out of town so often, and I never see him." Sam held HIS Topaz necklace, which his dad had brought home from Topaz Town.

His mom sighed. "I know, Sam, but still… Well, the only bad thing is that he won't be here to see you leave on your journey…" Sam's mom took a bite out of her burger. "Eat. Kin said something about Professor Willow needing to see the Topaz twins or something."

Sam frowned and took a ginormous bite out of his burger. "I don't really like that name, The Topaz Twins. I mean, we don't even look like real twins!"

Sam's mom sighed. "I told you, you're fraternal twins! Even though the only things different are your hair and eyes. And your clothing style. But still." The two ate their burgers in silence, and afterwards, Sam went upstairs to take a shower before bed. Sam felt the soapy water rush over his upper body, and thought. _Why can't I have my tenth birthday now? I can't wait to get a Poochember! They're so cool. My two favorite types in one! Dark and Fire… I can't wait!_

The next morning, Sam shook his mom awake. "Mom, wake up! It's Monday, you need to take me to school!"

Sam's mom shook Sam off of her. "Sam, it's Sunday."

"It's Monday. Please get up." Sam held out a mug of coffee. "I made your favorite." 

Like a Ratatta sensing a predator, Mrs. Kindle was awake in an instant. "Give me that coffee!" She almost barked. Sam handed her the mug and she gulped it down.

Sam reached behind the lamp on the bedside table and pulled out a second mug. "Seconds?"

The second mug was drained as quickly as the first, and Mrs. Kindle said, "I'll be right there!"

A few minutes later, Sam was driving to school with his mom. Sam's mom asked, "Sam, why do you want to go to school? Most kids don't even WANT to, and you're not even required since you were chosen for Professor Willow's Pokedex Project!"

Sam froze. "Umm… Mom? What did you say?"

"Professor Willow's Pokedex Project? Didn't I tell you?"

The car pulled up in front of Sam's school. Sam stayed in the car. "Mom, why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you knew!"

"Mom, turn this car around. We're going to Professor Willow's lab! Pokedex Project people get to leave a few weeks early! Kin already could be in Summerwind Town by now!"

Sam's mom drove out of the parking lot. "I guess that's what Professor Willow wanted to see you about yesterday. If you weren't so obsessed with that video game…" 

Sam stamped his foot. "Mom, I told you that it helps me formulate battle strategies beforehand!"

"I know, I know, but still… Here we are!" Sam's mom stopped in front of a two-story house, the lower of which was the lab. Sam bolted indoors, and ran straight into the Professor himself.

Professor Willow had brown hair, Green eyes, and a spindly body-build, like Professor Elm. "Sam! So glad you made it!" A puzzled look came across his face. "But why didn't you come yesterday, like I asked you to?"

Sam felt his face turn red. "Sorry Professor! I was just caught up in my computer game. It helps you formulate pokemon battle strategies and—"

The Professor cut him off. "I know, because I helped make it. But remember, in those games, moves can't be improvised. In the real world, enemies can plan around it and get better. In the games, it is the same thing, over and over, each time you challenge a virtual trainer."

Sam gave a timid smile as an apology. "Sorry! Anyways… My mom said that you wanted Kin and me as part of the Pokedex Project?" 

Professor Willow nodded. "That's right! I wanted the two most experienced possible trainers that Springleaf Town had more potential than others to win the Pokemon League, and my Pokedex Project is an excuse to let you leave early. Kin has already left."

Sam smiled inwardly and said out loud, "Knowing Kin, he and Watiger are already in Summerwind Town." Professor Willow laughed. "What?"

"Oh, Nothing, Samuel. For twins, you're not very good at reading each other, right?"

"What does that mean?"

"Oh, nothing, just come here. I have two pokemon left. Have you made a decision already?" As he said this, Professor Willow walked to the back of the lab and returned with two pokeballs. Out of the first came a Poochember, barking happily. The other wasn't what Sam expected.

"A Watiger? If you still have him, then that means that Kin left with Grachick!"

The Professor nodded. "That makes your decision all the easier. So, which will it be? Watiger or Poochember?"

Sam picked up one of the pokeballs that was in the Professor's hand. "Poochember, of course! Wolferno's line is SO amazing!"

Professor Willow nodded and handed Sam a pokedex that he took out of his back pocket. "Just because I'm using my Pokedex Project as an excuse to get you started early, that doesn't mean that you don't have to try it. Here is your pokedex, and here are your five spare pokeballs. After playing that video game for so long, I assume that you know all about how to use them?" Sam nodded. "Great! Now, say goodbye to your mom before leaving, because she loves you."

Sam bowed respectfully and exited the lab with a giant, "Thank you, Professor!" Professor Willow waved.

Sam's mom was waiting. "Well, how'd it go?"

"Professor Willow gave me these!"

Sam held out his five empty pokeballs, the one with Poochember, and his pokedex, and his mom gasped. "Sam!"

"What? Did I do something wro—AAKKK!!!" Sam's mom had given him a bear hug.

"Oh, Sam, I knew you'd leave home some day, but I never thought it would actually come! I love you so much!!!" 

"Mom… If you love me… Can't… Breathe…" Sam's mom released him.

"Sorry, honey. Want a drive to the city limits? Kin has to walk all the way through town to get to the Road to Summerwind." 

"Sure mom!" After a quick ride with a stop for lunch, Sam got out of the car at a sign marked, "Welcome to Springleaf Town, Where Fresh Beginnings Start Anew." And so Sam's journey through the Yinji Region began.

_**Well? Did you like it? Be sure to check out what happens to Kin is FrostHeartWarrior's story. Same people, same time period, same everything, but instead of following Sam, you'll follow Kin. Be sure to Favorite/Alert both! Please! Oh yeah, you read, now please Review! I love reviews!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Ok, I forgot to mention something. I wish to dedicate the whole story itself to FrostHeartWarrior. Without her, this story wouldn't have happened. She did 50% of the work, and that means that half the Yinji Pokemon would never have existed. So, thanks, Partner! You rock!**_

Sam looked back upon the town of Springleaf. He knew he probably wouldn't see it again until he came home with all his badges, so he took a last look. Then, he turned around and headed down the road. As he walked, he let Poochember out of the ball.

"Pooch!" The little pup yawned loudly, its tail turning a light, pale red.

"Hey, little fella," Sam said, picking him up. "Ready to go on an adventure?"

"Pooch! Pooch! Ember!" Poochember jumped up and down, tail changing color to a cherry red.

"I'll take that as a yes, then!" Sam let Poochember down and continued walking. "By the way, we'll be traveling for quite a while, so I need to know if you like my Pokemon food. Not exactly handmade, but still pretty good, or so I hear." Sam pulled a can of pokemon food from his jacket and gave a single piece to Poochember. "Is it good?" He asked. Poochember made a face and didn't say anything. Sam said, "That's ok. I bought a lot of different kinds, so you don't have to worry about food!"

"Pooooch!" Poochember smiled, or got as close to a smile as an animal with an elongated snout could.

Sam laughed. "You're a happy fellow, aren't you? OK, let's get moving again. I want to catch up to Kin!" Poochember made a stance as if he wanted to race. Sam laughed again. "Ok, little guy! You look like you have a lot of energy in you!" Sam readied himself for the race. "This will be to the Summerwind Town limits, ok? Ready, set, go!" The pair started running as fast as they could. Sam felt his fists pumping up and down. Then, he noticed that Poochember was easily keeping pace, almost smiling at Sam as he did so. _Ok,_ thought Sam, _if it's a race you want, it's a race you'll get! _Sam ran harder and faster, and he closed his eyes, letting his feet guide him. Sam ran and ran, hearing Poochember right on his heels. Then the next thing Sam knew, he was on the ground, sitting on top of someone. "Ow…" Sam rubbed his head and Poochember jumped onto the dog pile, making the unknown person beneath grunt. Sam heard this and quickly jumped off. "Oh, I'm sorry!"

The person underneath Sam grunted. "Sure, no problem, if you don't mind getting off!"

Sam quickly jumped up and apologized, accidentally slamming Poochember into the ground. "Pooch!"

Sam quickly said, "Sorry Poochember, sorry… What's your name?"

Sam helped the man to his feet. "My name's Kurogasa Kururugi. Yours?"

Sam just looked at him in confusion. "Kuro_whatthe _Kuru_huh?_"

Kurogasa just sighed. "Forget it. My name is just unpronounceable. And you never told me yours."

Sam said, "My name is Sam Kindle. I just left Springleaf Town a couple hours ago, and Poochember and I were having a race to get to Summerwind Town!"

Kurogasa raised an eyebrow. He had short brown hair that was somewhat spiky and had blue eyes. He wore a gold t-shirt with a long-sleeved silver jacket with gold stripes. He also wore light-blue denim jeans, black shoes, and black fingerless gloves. Around his neck was a crystal Suicune pendant. "Quite a long race. You sure you can run the whole thirty miles? Or did you walk for a while?" 

"We had already been walking for a while, so I guess you could call it a twenty mile race."

"And… Neither of you are panting or breathing hard at all, even though you just ran a solid two miles? I mean, you're still eighteen miles away, but wow… You must be strong!"

Sam cocked his head. "Huh? Two already? It only felt like one." Kurogasa fell over; anime-style, and Poochember began to lick his face.

"Ack—Poochember, stop licking me! I'm not the licking type! Please stop!" Sam returned Poochember to his pokeball and helped Kurogasa onto his feet again.

"So, where are you headed?" 

"I WAS planning on heading to Springleaf Town, to meet Professor Willow. I come from Johto, and I wanted a basic knowledge of Yinji."

Sam smiled ear-to-ear. "I'll teach you! We can talk while we walk!"

Kurogasa smiled. "Then I'll head back to Summerwind Town. Although… I'm pretty sure I've seen your face before…"

Sam smiled. "That would be my twin brother, Kin. You probably saw him before. Did you meet him personally?"

Kurogasa shook his head. "No, I just heard a man just shouting at a guy who looked like you to take a town map, and I never actually met him, so… Yeah. I don't even think he saw me."

Sam shrugged. "Well, let's pray that we don't also run into that guy. He sounds like a real nuisance."

Kurogasa looked at him. "We? Wait, you want me to travel around Yinji with you? I'm game!"

Sam smiled. "Awesome! I guess I just said 'we' unconsciously, ha-ha!"

Kurogasa smiled back. "Well, let's go! If Kin's your brother, we've got to speed up if we want to catch up to him! Oh yeah, if we're going to be traveling together, then I think that we should know each others pokemon. I already know yours, but I need to introduce my pokemon!" Kurogasa pulled out a single pokeball. "Alright Flame, come on out!" Out of the pokeball came a large roar, followed by a flash of light that began to re-shape itself into a pokemon.

When Sam realized what pokemon it was, he gasped. "Oh my Arceus. Is that a…?"

"Typhlosion!" The large pokemon roared, the flames on its blue backside on its neck flaring out. It's tan-ish body looked very powerful and well-taken care of."

"Holy crap, that's a Typhlosion!" The large pokemon nodded its head.

"Yep, that's right! Her name is Flame. I have back at Elm's lab a Shiftry, Ampharos, Gyarados, and a Blaziken. I did set my sights on a legendary pokemon, Suicune, but then I realized that if Suicune is tamed, so is the wind. I can't take that away from nature!"

Sam nodded. "Those are some strong ones, and I'm glad you could see past your quest for power. So, wanna race?"

Kurogasa shook his head. "No, it's too far to run. But we could take a ride on Flame. She loves the exercise, and can take us most of the way. That ok with you, Flame?"

The pokemon nodded and retracted her flames. "Ty!"

"Great! So come on, Sam, let's get going!" Kurogasa hopped onto Flame's back and helped Sam up. "Now remember, Flame, if at any time you want us to get of, just say your name three times, ok?" Flame nodded again. "Alright, let's get going!"

"Typhlosion!" Flame took of at breakneck speed, almost breaking Sam's neck. The tree's flashed by on either side, and Sam guessed they must have broken over sixty miles an hour.

Sam tapped Kurogasa's shoulder, and he just shouted. "Sam! Don't let go or you'll fall off!" That got Sam. He quickly put his hand back on Flame's back. The ride lasted like this for almost twenty minutes, until Flame began to slow down. As the pokemon slowed to a stop, Kurogasa hopped off and said, "Alright, a half a mile away from Summerwind Town limits. Well, hop off! Ok, if you're SO shaken up by your first ride, I'll do this: Flame, return!" sam quickly hopped off before the red light from Kurogasa's pokeball retracted, taking Flame with it.

"That was mean!"

"THAT was necessary."

"I don't care! Wanna race?"

"Sure!"

"Ok, Go!" Sam sprinted off without giving his new companion a chance. Sam ran at a surprising speed, until he heard someone coming up behind him. When he turned around to look, he was treated to a giant cloud of dust, which probably was Kurogasa, taking the lead. Sa ran as hard as he could, but by the time he caught up, he slammed into a sign, which knocked him back onto the ground. For a couple second, he even saw a bunch of Torchic spinning in the air in front of him. "Ow…"

Kurogasa, for it had been him who had passed Sam, helped Sam to his feet. "Sorry man, should've told you I was fast. Either way… You're not seriously injured and can move by yourself, right?" Sam nodded. "Good, 'cause we're here!"

Sam looked t the piece of wood he had run into. "Welcome to Summerwind Town, where Friendship Carries Throughout the Wind… We ARE here!"

Sam and Kurogasa walked into the small town, gazing at al the small buildings, until a slender man bolted up to them. "Do you have a town map?" His blue eyes were twitching.

Sam took an automatic step back. "Uh… No, why?"

The man whipped out a sheet of paper from the brown bag he was carrying. "Take it!"

Kurogasa recognized the man as the one who was harassing Kin before. He drew back his fist and delivered a single punch to the guy's forehead. Sam was angry that Kurogasa had knocked him out. "What'd you do that for? If we had just taken his map, we could've just walked away!"

"I've dealt with types like this before. They ALWAYS want to follow up with another sale. He was going to get you to buy so many things before you finally realized it was a scam. But we might as well take the map he gave us. Here, you're the one with the bag. All I've got is my pokeball belt and the pockets in my pants."

Sam took the map and put it in his backpack. "Ok. Hey, wanna see Entity Lake? It's a rare sight, but sometimes people can see legendary pokemon!"

Kurogasa shrugged. "Sure, why not? Let's consult our new map. Where is it?"

Sam held out the map. "Just south of here! Not too far, either. It's about a quarter mile's jog away. Let's go!"

Sam and Kurogasa walked for a while, until they reached a wondrous sight: A huge, blue expanse, covering about a surface of 70 feet. "There it is," breathed Sam. "Entity Lake is here!" The two stood slack-jawed until Sam suggested a walk along the shore, just taking in the sights. They did so, and just looked around at the amazing scenery. Then, Sam noticed something on the lake: A small bit of rock, slightly above water level, about thirty feet out. Sitting on this rock was a strange pokemon. It was colored a teal-blue color, and it stood on four small legs. It had two, medium sized elf-like ears, and a feline mouth and nose. Its eyes were closed, and it appeared to have a tail with a pyramid of rings around it.

Kurogasa sighed. "Isn't this wonderful?"

Sam just stared at the pokemon, who was enjoying the sun. "What's that?" And just like that, he walked out about halfway to the pokemon, and then began to swim when the water got too deep. When Sam surfaced, a few feet away, the pokemon was gone. In its place was a small necklace with an Aquamarine stone on it. When Sam picked it up, it sent a chill down his spine, but then a fuzzy, warm feeling quickly followed. However, the feeling surprised Sam so much, the stone fell out of his hand and began to sink to the bottom of the lake. "No!" Sam shouted, and he dove under.

"SAM!!!" Kurogasa shouted, and began to wade in after him. He tried to dive, but the depth soon got the better of him, and he had to turn back. Still, Sam dove deeper, feeling that safety of the stone was more important than the safety of his own life. Sam's lungs began to burn. He wanted to gasp for air, but only took in water. He finally reached the bottom of the deep lake, and grasped the stone that had been on the . By this time, Sam's lungs were about to pop. The last thing Sam remembered was this: _The stone is safe… I got the Aquamarine… _The world turned black.

_**And there it is… Whoever can guess who that pokemon was without looking at the dex, please comment, and the first one will have the next chapter dedicated to them!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**OK guys here's the next chapter! And btw, the last pokemon… Nobody got it right. The correct answer is OCORI. Ocori. Sam will have some sort of connection with him throughout the story, but glimpses of it will be fleeting.**_

_**In fact, I think I'll start doing that old ' who's that pokemon' thing that 4Kids used when they owned the pokemon dub. So, at the end of each chapter, I will post a pokemon. I'm trusting you not to use the pokedex, so whoever guesses it right will get their name mentioned in the next chapter. If nobody gets it right, then I'll just say it. Now for the chapter…**_

Sam cracked open his eyes. "Uuughh… Where am I?" Sam tried to open his eyes all the way, and succeeded, but with much effort. He looked around to see he was in a pokemon center, in one of the guest rooms. He noticed a Chansey in the corner of the room, taking a snooze. "Hey!" Sam called weakly.

The Chansey instantly woke up. "Chansey! Chansey Chansey!"

The medic pokemon tried to rush over to the bed to push Sam down, but a small, orangey-red bundle jumped up from the foot of the bed and growled, forcing the Chansey back. "Pooch! Embeeerrr….!"

Poochember turned around, a caring look on its face. "Hey Poochember, how are you?" Sam could now speak without hurting himself.

"He's fine, I'm worried about you, Sam," said a voice from the doorway. It was Kurogasa.

"Oh, hey, Kurogeju, Kurinjee—"

"Just call me Kuro." 'Kuro' walked over to Sam's bed. "What was all that back at Entity Lake?"

Sam struggled to remember what had happened. "I don't know. There was this pokemon…" Sam jolted to full awareness and sat up straighter as the memory came flooding back. "The Aquamarine Stone! Is it safe?"

Kuro reached out and pulled a string with the precious stone on it out of Sam's jacket. "Right here. I figured that if it was worth you risking your life, it was worth taking back with us."

Sam clutched the stone. "Thanks… So, when do we leave?"

Kuro was alarmed. "Sam! Just twelve hours ago, you dove into a hundred-meter deep lake, swam all the way to the bottom, and passed out! If it hadn't been for the other tourists in the area, and the luck that they knew how to swim, you'd be DEAD! You need to rest!"

Sam pulled his feet out of the bed. "I'm fine, see?" Sam stood up, took a few wobbly steps, and almost fell over.

Poochember stood on the bed sheets. "Pooch! Pooch-ember!"

Kuro nodded. "Fine. If you want to go, we'll go, but take it easy, ok? And if you really want to do this, then you need to go. No stopping, we need to wake your body up, ok?"

Sam got his balance and smiled. "Right!" He took another step, and soon, he was able to walk normally again.

The Chansey, who was sitting in the corner because of Poochember, tried to prick Sam with a needle, but Kurogasa knocked it away. "Don't inject that kid! He needs to run, not sleep! See? He can walk just fine!"

The Chansey hesitantly backed away, then smiled. "Chansey!" The pokemon tossed one of the eggs in its pouch to the group and ran out of the room, probably to tell Nurse Joy.

Kuro caught the egg and put it in a new bag hanging off of Sam's backpack. "Hey Kuro, what's that?" 

Kurogasa smiled. "While you were out, I figured you'd be really hungry when you woke up, so I went out and found this thing. It's a berry case. When I told the man at the store who it was for, he said he could have sworn he already sold you one." 

Sam nodded and walked to the door. "That'd be Kin, one step ahead of me, as always. We need to get going. By the way, got any berries to go with that case?"

Kuro shook his head. "Nah, not yet. Wanna go look for berry trees?"

"You know it! I'm starving, and the pokemon food pellets just don't seem to fit right with Poochember… Well? What are you waiting for? Come on!" Sam returned Poochember, ran out the door, and out of the pokemon center, waving goodbye to Nurse Joy and the Chansey.

Sam was out of town before Kurogasa was even out of the Pokemon Center, but he soon caught up. So," said Kuro, "what are we looking for? Oran? Sitrus? Pecha? We're flying blind here, Sam."

"I know, how about we start with Oran? They're supposed to be really plentiful around here. Ok?" Kurogasa just shrugged.

"Fine by me. I'll look over here."

"Ok, so I'll look over here!" 

"You sure got a lot of energy for a guy who was a minute from drowning just one day ago. How do you do that? You should've been out for at least twice as long as you were."

"I don't really know. I mean, I've been good at avoiding colds and stuff, but now that you mention it… That IS really weird."

Kuro looked like he was about to say more, but at that moment, he saw something. "Hey Sam, I think I found some!"

Sam went over to Kurogasa. "Let's see…. Um, nope, those are Bluk berries. But, It couldn't hurt to take a few!" Sam pulled some of them off of the tree and put them into the berry case. "I think I smelled something over there… Let's go look." Sam and Kuro walked over to a tree.

Kuro looked closely at the leaves. "Sam, there ARE tiny Oran berries here, but it looks like this tree was already raided by something. But, there may be more in the area."

The pair walked around until they came to a clearing. There, there were tons of small sprouts of trees, with Oran Berries already grown on them. Sam jumped up and down. "Awesone! There are enough here to last us for a LONG time!" He ran up to the nearest tree and pulled off a berry. Unfortunately, a pokemon was also holding onto the berry, ready to snatch it, before Sam had shown up.

"Cardiby!" It shouted, half surprise, half anger. It had red feathers on its winged body, and a thin tail that ended in four, sticklike feathers.

"Huh?" Sam said. "What's that?" He pulled out his pokedex. _"Cardiby, the Tiny Bird Pokemon. Cardiby swipes down prey with a series of pecks and gusts. It has a hardy nature and won't hesitate to stand up to foes larger than itself. It loves to groom its tail. This Cardiby's known moves are Peck and Growl._

Sam was excited. "Alright! This'll be my first catch! Poochember, Let's Battle!"

Sam tossed the pokeball up in the air, and the little wolf appeared, its mini fangs ready to attack. "Poochember, use Tackle!" Poochember ran forward and knocked into the bird pokemon, and Cardiby fell. The bird, now ready to battle, jumped forward and started pecking Poochember on the top of the head. "Knock it off of you, Poochember, use Smokescreen!"

Poochember nodded, knocking Cardiby off. Then, Poochember opened its mouth to let loose a giant amount of smoke, blocking Cardiby from view, trapped in the smoke. "Nice on Poochember! Use Growl continuously!"

Kurogasa nodded in approval of Sam's strategy and said, "Didn't know that Poochember even knew Smokescreen."

But unfortunately, Cardiby could locate the source of the growling and flew straight from the smoke, clearing it. "Poochember, use Smokescreen again!" Poochember opened its mouth, but instead of smoke came tiny little balls of flame, which hit Cardiby, knocking it out. "Whoa, Poochember, you used a new move! That was Ember, wasn't it?"

Sam would have been congratulating his pokemon for a long while unless Kurogasa hadn't said, "Sam! You still need to throw the pokeball!"

Sam blushed. "Oh, right!" Sam drew an empty pokeball. "Go, Pokeball!" The empty capsule opened and sucked in the weakened bird, and Sam instantly ran up to the pokeball and picked it up.

"Sam!" cautioned Kurogasa. "You still need to let it click shut!"

Sam smiled. "But this way, Kuro, means that the capture CAN'T fail. If I'm holding the ball shut, then the pokemon can't open it up, can it?"

Kurogasa conceded. "You're right. Just be careful against tough ones." 

The ball made a small pinging noise at that time, and Sam held it up to the sky. "Yes! I caught a Cardiby!"

Kurogasa proceeded to walk forward and begin to pick Oran berries off of the trees. "While you have your moment, let that new guy out, give it one or two of these, ok?" 

Sam nodded. "Cardiby, come on out!" He tossed the new pokeball in the air, and the weakened Cardiby fluttered through the air towards Sam, who fed it a few Oran Berries. The Tiny Bird instantly perked up. "Hey Cardiby, I'm sorry that I had to hurt you. Want another Oran Berry?"

The Tiny Bird Pokemon cocked its head, considering the offer. After a few moments, Cardiby spoke. "Bee! Bee! Cardi…By!"

Sam laughed. "Well ok then, welcome to the team!"

Time passed. After a couple hours, the berry case was full, and Sam with Kuro were well on their way towards Crystaline City. "Hey Kuro?"

"Yeah, Sam?" 

"Do you think we'l catch up with my brother?"

"There's a pretty good chance."

"I'm bored. Hey, let's let out our pokemon for a training session!"

"We'd have to stop. To do that."

"So? I'd rather level up our pokemon and make them stronger!"

Kuro shrugged. "Why not? I mean—" He was cut off by a strong breeze. Then the necklace on Sam's neck, the one that had the Aquamarine on it began to glow. Sam pulled it off his neck.

"Whoa, what is that?" Sam asked to no one in general.

Then, the same thing happened to Kurogasa's Suicune necklace. "Oh my Arceus, Sam, what's going on?"

"I was hoping you knew, Kuro!" The breeze intensified even more, until the pair was trapped in a virtual vortesx. They held out the two stones, and then the shadows of two pokemon appeared. Sam was able to reach into his pocket and pull out his pokedex, but then, the wind died down and the shadows disappeared. All that the pokedex was able to register was this: _Ocori, the Oce……Kemon. The……. O………………………………………………………_

The pokedex stopped. "No pokemon selected" it said.

Sam thought. "The pokedex said Ocori… Isn't he the one who helped make Regice?"

Kuro was almost paralyzed with wonder. "If that was Ocori, and you thought you saw a legendary pokemon at Entity Lake… Were they the same? And does that mean the other pokemon was Suicune?"

A scratchy, old voice rang out. "Whatever you saw, those necklaces are precious stuff!" Sam and Kuro looked around. "Down here, you nincompoops!" Sam and Kuro looked down to see a midget elderly lady, with gray hair and perpetually closed eyes (like Brock), and she wore a green T-Shirt with brown pants. "However you two got those, they're precious stuff! Come with me, I'll tell you why those are so precious!"

_**OK, now for my first…**_

_**WHO"S THAT POKEMON?"**_

THIS POKEMON LOVES TO EAT, AND IS MENTIONED BRIEFELY IN THE FIRST CHAPTER.

_**No using the pokedex!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**IT'S… PIGREL!**_

_**The winner of THIS one is… et4279! Thank you for your guessing, and be sure to guess the next one!**_

Sam and Kurogasa sat in the small, two-room cottage sipping tea with the old lady. "So," Sam began, "What's this about precious necklaces?"

The old lady shushed him. "All in good time. Now, why did you come here?"

Kuro sat up. "You forcibly pulled us here using your bare hands, despite out attempts to go to Crystaline City, and then, once we were here, you locked the door and broke off the lock. Is that reason enough?"

The old lady poured herself a cup of tea and took a sip. "Fair enough. Ok, do you want to know WHY I dragged you here?"

Sam shifted uncomfortably. "Not really…"

"Fine, if you insist! No, no, you talked me into it!"

"No we didn't! I specifically requested you let us go, WITHOUT your story!"

"Fine, I'll tell you, but only because you asked."

"WHAT THE F***?"

The lady stirred her tea with her finger. "Ok, here's the story. My name is Josaline. Here's a picture!"

Kurogasa took the outstretched picture and looked at it. "Umm… Why is there a Tyruption in the background?"

Josaline snapped the picture back. "It was restored to life!"

"Yeah, I'm SO sure."

"Anyways, I'll tell you a legend. You are familiar with the legend of Regigigas, I presume?"

"I am. Kuro here might not be."

"No, I am, go on!"

"Ok, well, after finishing the towing of the continents, humans approached him with pillars of Ice from the North Pole, Rocks from all around the world, and Hardened magma, more commonly known as volcanic steel. They asked him to bring these pillars to life, and Regigigas tried. He did, but what isn't very commonly known is this: Regigigas was only able to give SHAPE to the pokemon we know as Regirock, Regice, and Registeel. To give them life, he needed help. After his hidden power failed to work, he summoned forth three beings from the center of the earth. One was born from the compressed rock and was in a deep sleep when Regigigas called. This was Stonori. The second was lying dormant in a deep iron mine, also close to the center of the earth. This one was Steelori. The last one was born in the bottom of Marianas Trench, the deepest part of the known world." Josaline stared at Sam's Aquamarine. "This one was Ocori."

Sam jumped up. "That's the pokemon I saw! That's the one who was at Entity Lake!" 

Kurogasa was listening intently. "Shut up Sam! I want to hear the rest!"

Josaline nodded. "Very well then. After Regigigas called, these three pokemon presented themselves to Regigigas. They also knew hidden power. Stonori added power to the Pillar of Rock, creating Regirock. Steelori added power to the pillar of Steel, creating Registeel, and Ocori added power to the Pillar of Ice, creating Regice. After the creation, Regigigas retreated to a volcano near Snowpoint City, until he saved the Town from a volcanic eruption, with the help of his three golems. What happened to the Origin Trio is also much less known. They simply disappeared. One moment, they had been greeting their creations, the next, they were gone, leaving stones in their place. These stones were left in place, and they were gone by the next morning. Nobody knows what happened to them, but it was assumed that they went back to where they had come. But now, with that necklace, you have proven that they, or at least one of them, has come to Yinji."

Kurogasa nodded. "And I'm already familiar with the legend of Suicune and the Legendary Beasts."

Sam looked at him. "I'm not. Please tell me?"

Kurogasa sighed. "Fine. Around one thousand years ago, there were two towers in Ecruteak City. One was the Brass Tower, and the other was the Tin Tower, which was recently renamed Bell Tower. The Brass Tower was caught in the center of the storm, along with Bell Tower. While Bell Tower was unharmed, a bolt of lightning struck the Brass Tower, setting it on fire. At this point, Lugia fled, but Ho-oh stayed on top of Bell Tower. Only three pokemon were left inside, and they perished in the fire. Nobody's sure if they were normal pokemon, like Jolteon, Vaporeon, and Flareon, or if they were already gifted with Uber-Appearances, but either way, Ho-oh somehow stopped the storm and descended upon the tower, where the three carcasses lay. Ho-oh harnessed the power of the fire that was eating the tower and blew it into one of the pokemon, who was named Entei. Then, Ho-oh brought back the bolt of lightning that had started the fire and forced it into the second one, which was named Raikou."

Kurogasa stopped for a moment, but Sam pressed for more. "Well?"

Josaline sighed. "I'll tell it. The last pokemon, Ho-oh thought it wasn't able to save. That was before a breeze began to blow through Ecruteak. Ho-oh saw a chance, and took the breeze and put the energy into the third, creating Suicune. The three were destined to run continuously. When they left the remains of Brass Tower, they left behind stones of a small size. Your friend here has one of them, chisled into the shape of a Suicune."

Sam was wide-eyed. "Wow. That was cool! I didn't know all that!" His amazement faded. "Now, can wee leave now?"

Josaline stomped her foot. "No! You must stay here! To train! Do you want to get stronger?"

Sam stood. "Yeah! Where do we practice?" 

"Outside! In the yard, you will spar against my little Brachby!"

Kurogasa nudged Sam and whispered in his ear, "Yeah, and not one that had to be revived from a fossil!" The pair snickered, until Josaline, who was donning both a broom and a pokeball, hit them both in the head.

"I HATE THOSE JOKES! I WILL NOT HOLD BACK! ARE YOU READY!"

Kurogasa took an unconscious step backwards. "Um… How do you move so fast?"

Sam was already out the door and tossing his two pokeballs in the air. "Ok then! Poochember, Cardiby, let's go!"

Josaline scoffed. "You say you care for pokemon? Where are their nicknames? They MUST have nicknames, or you will not have gained full trust!"

Sam was uncomfortable. Ok, fine. What should I name them?"

"The names will come in time. You just need to know when!"

Sam smiled at his two pokemon and walked outside. Kurogasa opted to remain inside, probably to raid the fridge. Sam spoke to his pokemon. "Ok guys, are you ready? This time, it's a Brachby we're facing! Here's the data. Hang on…" Sam pulled out hiss pokedex and thumbed through the pokemon. "Ok, Here!"

_Brachby, the Baby Dino Pokemon. It roamed Yinji more than 2 million years ago. It blast enemies with streams of water._

Sam closed his pokedex and watched his two pokemon jump up and down in excitement. "You see? Hey Josaline, are you ready?"

The elderly lady threw a pokeball without a word. The pokemon that appeared out of it had a long neck and tail, stood on four legs, and was about 3 feet tall. Its rough skin was colored turquoise, and its underside had a lighter strip of color along its length. "Brach…Beeee!" Brachby raised its head and roared the best a three-foot tall dino could.

Josaline spoke. "This is my Brachby. He's been ready to evolve for some time now, but neither of us wants that, because he'd destroy the house, but that's beside the point! Your two pokemon against my Brachby in a two-on-one battle! Ready?" 

Sam pumped his fist. "You bet! Poochember, start it off with Ember! Cardiby, follow up by racing through the Embers and use Peck!"

Poochember fired off a long burst of small fireballs, and Cardiby flew straight into the line of fire, letting the fireballs carry in forward, ready to peck. "Brachby, send both of them backwards with a Water Gun!"

Brachby fired off a stream of water. "Cardiby, pull out and continue the attack from the air!"

Cardiby barely moved out of the way in time, but the water ate right through the fire and hit Poochember straight on. Poochember was knocked back, but Cardiby flew straight forward, not stopping. Cardiby hit Brachby head-on, and the Baby Dino cried out in pain.

"Brachby, Body Slam, close range! Brachby pulled back about a few inches before slamming back forward, and Cardiby flew straight into Poochember, who had just gotten up.

"Poochember, Tackle, Cardiby, Peck! He can't get both of you with Water Gun!"

Josaline's eyes glinted. "That may be so, but my Brachby is powerful! Hydro Pump!" 

"What? Guys, pull out!" But it was too late. Poochember was hit first, and was quickly knocked down. Cardiby tried to stand back up, but it was no use. Aw, guys, you did your best. We'll train hard in the future. Return!" Sam held out two pokeballs and his two pokemon disappeared inside.

"Brachby, return!" Josaline walked forward. "Nice effort, you two. May I let you in on a secret? My Brachby is undefeated. No one has ever beaten it, and you are the first to even get in a single hit. Therefore, you are undoubtedly the best trainer I have met so far."

Kuro walked out of the house. "Hey, Sam! The fridge has Rage Candy Bars! You know how big those things are in Johto?"

Josaline smacked Kurogasa in the head with a broom. "Those are MY Rage Candy Bars, and you won't have any of them!"

Kurogasa's lips dropped a crumb. "Oh…" Josaline's eye twitched. "Well, on the bright side, they were really tasty."

Josaline twitched again. "GET OFF MY PROPERTY AND NEVER COME BACK! NOW I HAVE TO GO BACK TO JOHTO TO GET MORE!"

Sam and Kurogasa were out of there a second, and they didn't stop running until they were a whole mile away from the house. Sam put his hands on his knees. "Did we loose her?"

Kurogasa did the same as Sam. "I don't think she was even chasing us. But something good came out of it. Look!"

Sam looked. "I don't see… Oh my Arceus. We're here!" And indeed, they were. "Welcome to Crystaline City, Kuro, my good friend! Where Generations are Born again!" Sam rushed down the hill. Kuro was about to follow, when a rustle in the bushes caught him. He turned to look and he saw a pokemon. He thought about how he needed more than just one… Perfect.

Sam rushed into the Pokemon Center. "Nurse Joy, could you heal my pokemon? I went up against a tough Brachby, and got crushed!" Unlike other Nurse Joys, this one had Chirpdy instead of Chansey, but Sam didn't take the time to scan it with his pokedex. He did make a mental not to look for wild ones, though.

Nurse Joy looked up. "Oh, against Stoak? Yes, his Brachby is tough."

Sam looked at her strangely. "What? No, this was against a lady in the woods."

Nurse Joy was hushed by that statement. "Did you say in the woods?" Sam nodded. "We've got to get your pokemon to critical care! Their lives could be in danger!"

Sam was confused. "What do you mean?"

"That Josaline has a reputation for putting pokemon up for months! I need to see what condition your pokemon are in!"

Sam shrugged. "Ok. Cardiby, Poochember, come on out, so that Nurse Joy can inspect you." He nonchalantly tossed the pokeballs in the air.

The pokemon came out, already looking better. Nurse Joy gasped. "Why, these are the best-looking survivors I've ever seen! Your pokemon are exceptionally strong!"

Sam smiled and gave the two pokemon high fives. "You hear that guys? Your super-strong! Hey, wanna get a room so that we can rest up?" 

Nurse Joy stopped him. "Of course you can, but Let me take a day to spruce these guys up."

Sam shrugged. "Sure! And since we aren't strong enough to take on Stoak yet, we'll need to train a lot! For the next few days, we'll train in the battlefield out back, and we'll heal up every once and a while and get ready for the next cession. Is that ok?" The two pokemon jumped up and down and were taken to the back room by Nurse Joy.

At that moment, Kurogasa walked in. "Hey Sam, look!"

Sam turned to look at Kurogasa's TWO pokeballs. "Wait, I thought you only brought Flame to Yinji. I thought She—"

"He. Flame is a he." 

"Wait, you introduced that pokemon as a girl."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did!"

"No I didn't!" 

"Yes you—"

"Sam, do want to argue over if my pokemon has a pair or not, or do you want to meet my new one?" 

Sam sighed. "I guess I'll see your new one. What is it?" 

Kuro threw the second one. "Go, Flash!" The pokemon was an electric type, Sam could tell by the name.

It was covered in yellow hair, a six inch long tail, and a black pattern of rough, coarse fur around its eyes. Sam was jealous. "You got a Sparchim? Those are really rare!"

Kurogasa shrugged. "Hey, you'll run into an electric type sooner or later. Where's Nurse Joy?"

"In the back, taking care of Poochember and Cardiby."

"You really need to give them nicknames."

"I don't know what!"

"Well, I name mine according to type. My Shiftry back home is named Razor, because of the sharp fans on its arms, and the Ampharos is good at using his electric attacks, so I named him Volt. Why not name your pokemon after something like that?"

Sam shrugged. "Well, Poochember is a fire type. What if I have a name like… Flare? That's good, right?" 

Kuro shrugged also. "Well, if it sounds right, it should work. Now, for your flying type."

"Cardiby, yeah. Um… What do you think?"

"The name will come in time."

"No, no, I need a name now."

"Well, ok, what is the most astounding feature of the Cardiby line?"

"The red feathers, for sure. Wait, I got it! Redwing!" Do you like that, Kuro?"

"Whatever you think, Sam."

Nurse Joy came out of the room and gave him the pokeballs. "Ok Sam, your pokemon are resting I would offer you a room, but we're all full. Will you be ok at a hotel?"

"Sure, no problem!" Sam rushed outside ran to the nearest hotel, ready to crash after such a long day. He got a room, called Kuro, and closed his eyes.

What seemed like an hour later, he was being shaken awake by Kuro. "Uuggg…. Kuro, what gives?"

The familiar face loomed. "Sam, you've been asleep for a while. It's already three 'o clock. I thought you were just being tired, but this is too much."

Sam sat straight up. "Oh no! I've got to get training! See ya!" Sam was out of the room before another question could be asked or another statement said.

Sam walked out the door and headed out to the public battlefield. He mused to himself, _Wouldn't it be funny if Kin was staying at the Pokemon Center? No, that's too far-fetched. He's probably already gone. Oh well! _He tossed his pokeballs in the air. "Redwing! Flare! Let's go!" The two pokemon cocked their heads in confusion. "Oh, you see, I thought you might appreciate new names. It that ok?"

"Ember! Ember!" Flare seemed to enjoy the new name.

"By! By!" So did Redwing!

"Alright guys, let's start training!"

_**WHO"S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**THIS POKEMON HAS THICK PLATES OF ARMOR MADE OUT OF ICE, RAISING ITS DEFENSE.**_

_**No using the pokedex!**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Ok, the winners of the WHO"S THAT POKEMON? Are… et4279 and Funikkusumaru, who both came in with the right answer of Dolphice! Congrats!**_

Sam was training hard. He already had been at it for a whole day, only taking breaks to eat and give his pokemon Oran Berries. Sam himself had been working out with them, but he was just standing at the edge of the Public Battlefield most of the time. Flare's Ember attack had been growing a lot stronger, and He could feel that both of them were about ready to learn Quick Attack, but he would have to wait for a little longer.

"Ok guys," he said. "Let's go take a break." Sam began to walk off, until he saw a man run up.

"Wait!" The man shouted. "I saw you training, and it's obvious that you love them. Could I please have a battle?"

Sam considered it. "What do you think, guys?" 

Flare jumped up and down. "Ember! Poooochember!"

Redwing was equally as enthusiastic. "Cardi…Beeee!"

Sam looked back at the man. "Great! I accept! Flare, Let's Battle!" The little pup jumped forward and growled menacingly.

The man, who had gray hair and equally gray eyes smiled and pulled out a pokeball. "Alright! If you choose a Poochember, I choose this! Come on, Bugzeon!"

Sam checked the pokemon that came out of the pokeball. It had short, spiky, green fur and ears with black skin on the inside. It had a tail with what looked like an Apricorn on the end. Sam pulled out his pokedex. It said, _Bugzeon, the Solar Needle Pokemon. The end of its strange tail can mysteriously use photosynthesis, and no one knows what is inside it. These pokemon gather in large numbers under the starry sky._

The man smiled, as if remembering memories. "Yes… This Bugzeon was my first pokemon. I found it as an Eevee, eating the veggies in my backyard. We are a lot stronger than that day, many years ago. Now, it is time to put ourselves to the test!"

Sam smiled. "Great! You get first move!" A crowd began to gather around the battling duo.

"Bugzeon, use Quick Attack!"

"Flare, Ember!"

"Bugzeon, dodge it and use X-Scissor!" Sam gasped as he saw that the Quick Attack was just to get close for a clear shot at Flare! 

Flare tried to shake Bugzeon off, but Bugzeon jumped, and came down, tips of its three claws glowing. Bugzeon slashed them across Flare's back in an X pattern.

"Flare, flip upside down and use Ember on that Eeveelution!" Flare did so, and the Bugzeon flew back with a loud cry. "Great! Now use Tackle!"

"Bugzeon, Bug Buzz!" Bugzeon raised it's head and many circles of energy appeared, like ripples in a pond, and then they were fired at Flare, who was running towards the downed pokemon. Flare dodged, but then the man shouted, "Bugzeon, use Last Resort!" Bugzeon ran at Flare, body beginning to glow.

"Flare, use Tackle straight back at it!" Flare ran hard, but sped up far beyond a normal Tackle, and then a white streak of light appeared behind Flare. Sam was dumbfounded. "Flare, you learned Quick Attack!"

The speed alone knocked Bugzeon back, and the man shouted. "Bugzeon! You can do it, please, get up!"

Sam was ready to end this. "Flare, use Ember to finish it!" Flare let loose a long stream of mini fireballs which hit Bugzeon, creating a smoke cloud. When it cleared, Bugzeon was knocked out. Sam jumped up and down for joy. "You did it, Flare! And you learned Quick Attack!"

Sam was proud of his pokemon. They had gotten a lot stronger, and were almost ready for the Gym Battle! The man walked up after returning Bugzeon. "Hey, you are really good. You might even win the inji League if you put your mind to it!"

Then, he walked away. The crowd dispersed, too, except for one girl. She had on a silver jacket with a decoratinoal pokeball symbol on the back. She also had blue jeans and wore a diamond-heart necklace. She said, "Kin, is that you? Did you cut your hair?"

Sam froze. "Who?" He said cautiously, almost fainting right on the spot. "Do you know my… Who are you?"

The girl almost blushed. "Oh, sorry! You look like someone I know. My name's Diana. Bye!"

Sam almost held out a hand to stop her, but then thought the better of it. He said to himself, as he returned his two pokemon, "She must be thinking of a different Kin. It's not really a common name, but in this whole town, there must be someone named that. Yeah, that's it. I'll head back to the room. I haven't slept in almost two days!"

Sam walked back to the room. He took a nap and woke up a while later. He was just changing into a fresh set of his usual clothes when Kurogasa walked in. He could barely hear what Kuro was saying because he said it so quietly. Sam heard this: "…Could swear, what was Sam doing at the Contest Hall? And where did he get those pokemon?"

Sam was alert. "What did you say? I was here all day, training my butt off!"

Kurogasa's face was confused for a minute, but then a stranger look that seemed to be comprehension replaced it. "Oh! Forget I said anything! Sorry!"

Sam stared at him for a second. "Yeah… Right…" Sam went outside and began to walk.

Kurogasa jumped after him. "Wait! Where are you going?"

"To the Gym, to get my first badge, where else? Redwing is a lot stronger, and Flare learned Quick Attack! So, there's no sense in waiting!"

Kurogassa knew who he had seen, but Sam was tired of thinking about that, after the girl at the battlefield, and then Kuro, so he wanted to battle, and the best way to do that would be to get his badge!

Sam knocked on the door to the gym, five minutes later. Nobody answered. Sam and Kuro turned to walk away, when a voice was heard. "Wait!"

A man with a slight tan and about six feet tall was running towards them. He wore a short sleeve, maroon colored t-shirt and tannish cargo shorts. He also had a jacket tied around his waist, also colored maroon. As he got nearer, Sam could see that he had eyes that looked to be a mix between brown and gold, and deep black hair that looked a lot like Roark from the Oreburg Gym.

Sam waved. "Hello, how are you?"

The man stopped in front of them. "Are you here for a Gym Battle?"

"Yeah, I am, but this guy is just along for the ride."

Kuro made a face. "Hey! I'm not here 'just for the ride!' I'm also your friend!" 

Sam ignored him. "Are you here for a battle also?"

The man laughed. "Sort of! Just getting back from the pokemon center, I am." He opened the door of the Gym. "Welcome to my home, the Crystaline Gym! The name's Stoak, how are you?"

Sam gaped, open-mouthed. "You… Wow! Can we battle now?"

Stoak laughed. "Of course! Let's go to the battlefield."

Sam followed Stoak through the Gym, and came out upon a large field, at least twice the size of the one he had trained on. They took their places, and Kurogasa offered to referee. "Yeah!" Said Sam. "And my first pokemon is—"

Stoak cut him off. "Hang on, how many pokemon do you have? I have three, but I do also do Two-on-two battles if the challenger only has two."

Sam sheepishly grineed. "Only two… But that's beside the point! Flare, Let's Battle!"

Stoak held up his pokeball as well. "Then I choose Geodude!"

Kurogasa held up his hands. "Let the battle begin!"

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**THIS POKEMON IS THE EVOLVED FORM OF EEVE, AFTER LEVELING UP WITH A POISON BARB!**_

_**No Pokedex!**_


	6. Chapter 6

Sam stood on one side of the field, Stoak on the other. Kurogasa was still in the middle, waiting for Sam to make the first move. Sam thought about the best way for Flare to win, and a thought struck him. "Alright Flare, let's start it off with Smokescreen!"

Flare opened its mouth and out came a thick smoke, obscuring everything from sight. Sam heard Stoak's voice. "Ok Geodude, get rid of the smoke with Rollout!"

Sam frowned. THIS would stop his plan in its tracks. "Flare, when you see it coming towards you, use Ember and Tackle at the same time!" Flare tensed its body, not able to see its adversary because of its own attack. Then, out of nowhere, Sam heard a faint grinding sound. "Flare, off to your right!" Flare turned that way, fired off an Ember attack, and Sam heard the noise stop. "Right on Flare! Now follow up with Tackle!"

Sam heard Stoak again, and then saw his silhouette, which meant the smoke was about to clear. Stoak said, "Geodude, use Seismic Toss!"

The smoke cleared completely, and Sam saw two things: The first was Stoak smiling. The second was Geodude, swinging Flare around in circles. Stoak laughed. "You've still got a lot to learn if you want to win the Pebble Badge!"

Sam could only watch as Flare was thrown high into the air and came crashing down on the ground. "Come on Flare! You need to get up! You can do it!"'

Flare was shaky, and was badly injured. "Pooooch…EMBER!" Flare stood up, with a fire in his eyes. It wasn't exactly Blaze, but rather determination to win, and Sam saw how pumped Flare was.

"Alright! Flare, use Quick Attack again!" Flare ran forward, definitely faster than before.

Stoak was stunned. "Whoa, that's fast!" Geodude was also stunned it seemed, because it didn't make an effort to move out of the way, and was knocked back into the wall. Geodude was knocked out.

Kurogasa raised his arm. "Geodude is unable to battle! The round goes to Flare!"

Stoak turned to face it. "Nice job, Geodude, you did well." Stoak pulled out Geodude's pokeball and returned it.

Sam smiled. "Gettin' a little nervous, Stoak? I'm up, one nothing!"

Stoak smiled back and pulled out a second pokeball. "Not one bit, because you've never met my Brachby!" Stoak threw the second pokeball in the air, releasing a Brachby, which was all too familiar to Sam.

"Hey Kuro, remember how you ruined our chances of training against this by eating the Rage Candy Bars?"

Kuro's face reddened. "Hey, I didn't know. And besides, those things have the same texture as chocolate, but any flavor from mint to peanut! And I'm the ref, so I won't hesitate to disqualify you for making fun of me!"

Sam frowned. "That's blackmail!"

"Let the round begin!"

Stoak raised an arm. "Brachby, start this off with Water Gun!"

"Flare, dodge it and use Ember!" Flare jumped and Shot the mini-fireballs at Brachby.

"Brachby, take the hit and use Roar!" Brachby waited until the flames petered out, not looking any worse. Then, Brachby opened its mouth and emitted a loud intimidating roar that was so forceful Sam was almost knocked back.

Flare was knocked back, and Sam shouted over the sound, "Flare, Quick Attack! Then, up close, use Ember again!"

Flare ran as fast as it could, almost not able to break through the wind that Brachby was roaring out. Sam now knew why in his game, the move ended a battle. Then, Brachby seemed to run out of breath, so the wind stopped, and Flare was catapulted forward by his own velocity. He flew straight into Brachby, hard. Brachby cried out in pain, despite the type advantage.

Then, before Flare could finish the battle with Ember, Stoak shouted, "Brachby, use Stomp, directly to the chest!" Brachby reared up on its back legs for a moment before slamming down, pinning Flare down and rustling up a cloud of dust from the field.

When it cleared, Flare was freed from the stomp, but obviously knocked out. Kuro raised his hand. "Flare is unable to battle! The round goes to Brachby!"

Sam's fist tightened. "Fine! You force me to use this one! Redwing, let's battle!" Sam returned Flare and tossed Redwing's pokeball in the air at the same time, and when Flare disappeared, in his place was a small red bird, with a determined look in its eyes.

The little bird impressed Stoak. "You know, that Cardiby is above par. I can tell by the look in its eyes!"

Sam smiled again. "You know it! And I'm going to win! Redwing, start it off with Peck!"

Redwing flew forward fast, beak outstretched. Brachby was unprepared for such speed, and Stoak silently applauded Redwing. Sam knew this because he could see the admiration in Stoak's eyes. "Brachby, use Water Stomp!""

"Redwing, if that Stomp hits you, you're dead! Get out of there and use Wing Attack!"

Kurogasa was surprised. He knew that Sam had been training on Redwing's attack power, but a new move? Impressive. Obviously Stoak felt that way too, because Sam could see the slightest beginning of a bead of sweat. "Well Sam, your Cardiby is one tough piece of work. Wouldn't want to meet her in a dark alley!"

Sam asked, "How do you know Redwing's a 'she?'"

"Male Cardiby have a little tuft of hair above their head, like a Staravia, only red. But let's get back to the reason you're here! Brachby, when that Cardiby comes back in, use close range Water Gun!" Brachby obliged, and Redwing, who was not expecting it, was forced backwards, hitting the wall.

"Redwing, can you still battle?" Redwing peeled herself off the wall.

"Beeee!"

"Great! Use Wing Attack again!" Redwing flew forward. Brachby tensed, waiting for orders.

"Brachby, use Bite!" Brachby opened its mouth wide and when Redwing was about to strike, Brachby clamped down. Redwing cried out in pain, and Stoak shouted, "Ok Brachby, throw Redwing on the ground and use Stomp!"

Sam knew that if he didn't finish it now, Brachby would finish it for him. "Redwing, use Peck on the inside of Brachby's mouth! I know it's gross, but you can do it!"

Redwing struggled to get her head free, but was able to do it before Brachby dropped her, and when Brachby did, its mouth was left wide open, and Redwing was ready to Peck. Brachby had heard Sam and tried to close its mouth, but Redwing was able to get inside before, and Brachby had pretty much locked a time bomb inside its own mouth. Before Stoak could issue a command, Brachby cried out in pain, giving Sa a look at Redwing, who was furiously pecking at Brachby's throat.

Sam shouted, "Redwing, stop or Brachby will throw up!" This got Redwing's attention. She flew straight out of Brachby's mouth, and the Baby Dino fell to its knees, hardly able to open its eyes. Sam pumped his fist in victory. "Redwing, finish it with—"

"Brachby, return. I forfeit."

Sam stopped, his finger in the air pointing at Brachby. "What? That would mean I win."

Stoak smiled. "You already have. I've got to go heal these guys. Won't put it off like last time. " Stoak flicked something in the air, and it glinted in the sunlight.

As the object flew towards Sam, Stoak walked out the doors, returning Brachby as he did. Sam ran after him, but stopped and was captured by the object flying through the sky. Sam clicked his fingers, and Redwing flew up to catch it. Kuro walked over to where Sam was, and Redwing flew back down.

Kuro peered over Sam's shoulders as Sam took the object. "What is it?" He asked Sam.

"I don't know, but I'd guess it's the Pebble Badge!" The badge was about an inch tall and an inch wide. It was colored a deep brown, and it had zigzag patterns running over the smooth, round surface, both up and down and left to right, each zigzag about a sixteenth of an inch thick, and leaving about one fourth of an inch between each one.

Sam was filled with pure joy. "Oh my Arceus, I did it! I got the Pebble Badge!" He held it up high for all to see (which wasn't very many people at all, just Kuro and Redwing). Redwing let out a squeal of delight and tapped Sam on the shoulder. Sam gave Redwing a high-five and returned her to her pokeball. "Now," he said, "Let's et to the pokemon center to heal up!"

A few minutes later, Sam was handing his pokeballs to Nurse Joy, who congratulated him on his victory. Kuro was flopped on the couch in the waiting area, watching TV. Sam came over and said, "I don't like this show. Let's watch something else."

"Whatever" Kuro clicked the channel up button on the remote. "Wanna watch the contest?"

Sam grabbed a cookie from wherever (I dunno where, just go with it, people) and sat down on the couch beside Kuro. "Why not?"

It was just going to commercial, and Sam was about to shove the whole cookie in his mouth when Kuro ripped it out of his hands, and then put it back in his hands, saying, "Careful. You'll get fat."

Sam laughed and pointed at the TV. "Be quiet, it's back on." Sam watched the appeals with moderate interest, only truly impressed by some guy's Freeda. It looked kinda spoiled, but still, also powerful. Sam had no doubt that this guy could easily beat Stoak. When the performance was over, Sam was still only impressed by way the guy, Alexander, the name the announcer had introduced him as, had used Ice Ball defensively.

He listened to the announcer, who Kuro had told him was called Mary-Ann, who had twins all over the country, and nearly choked on a piece of his cookie. "Next up we have Diana from Lysander City, all the way from the Hokkaido Region! Give it up, everybody, for Diana Forrester!"

Kuro noticed this and slammed his hand down on Sam's back, freeing the piece of cookie. "Whoa, Sam, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a Gastly!"

Sam almost made the mistake of eating more of his cookie, but Kuro snapped his fingers. Sam was startled. "Oh, sorry, Kuro, she's just the one who thought I was someone else. She watched me battle some man with a Bugzeon, and she was convinced I was someone she knew, except with shorter hair. Sounds like Kin…"

Kuro nodded, his eyes glinting with some knowledge that Sam didn't really try to press him for. "Ok, you know her. So what? Let's watch!"

Sam did watch. Diana used a Watiger, and the performance was stunning. Even for a more battle-suited mind like Sam, he was captivated. When the end came with a mist of popped bubbles, filled with sparkles, Sam was reluctant to see her leave the stage. "She's really good," Sam remarked.

"I know," Kurogasa said, nodding his head. "She really got me."

Sam took another bite, the last bite, of his cookie. Then, Mary-Ann, or whatever her name was, said something that was the last in the world that Sam had ever thought possible: "Alright! That leaves us with one contestant left! He's a new face to the Contest World, so please cheer loudly for him when he makes his appearance!"

Sam shifted uncomfortably. "Kuro? Do you think that maybe it IS possible, after all…?"

"Yes Sam, I do think it's possible."

The coordinator on the TV screen looked more like a dream than real life. "Last but not least is Kin Kindle from Springleaf Town!"

_**KABOOM! There it is, Sam knows that Kin is here! What'll happen next Chapter? While you wonder, try to guess…**_

_**WHO"S THAT POKEMON?**_

This pokemon is a natural hypnotist, putting opponents to sleep with the patterns on its feathers.

_**No Pokedex!**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**WHO"S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**It's Soarych! The only one who got it right this time was Charmander Hero, formely known as FrostHeartWarrior, my partner in the making of the region. She has her own website now. Please check it out for her.**_

_**Last time, Sam was watching the contest, and when Kin came on… Let's find out what happens…**_

Sam just stood there. "Hey Kuro?" He said.

"Yeah?" 

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

Kuro shrank back into the couch. "Sam, I don't know. Please, calm down."

Sam picked up a vase on a nearby table, looked as if he were about to throw it, and then thought better of it and set it down. "You know something! I saw that glint in your eye before! What did you see?" 

Kuro shrank back even more. "Ok, I saw Kin at the Contest Hall earlier today, right before you left for your battle!" Then, noticing Sam's expression, added, "Please don't kill me!"

Sam glared at him darkly. Then he walked over to the front desk. "Nurse Joy?" He called.

The nurse ran out from a back room. "Yes, Sam? How can I help you?"

"How long until my pokemon are ready to go? I need to have a chat with my brother, down at the contest hall."

"Oh, you mean the one who just finished his appeal?"

"Yes. How long until they're ready?"

"Um, let's see… After a battle like that with Stoak's pokemon, I'd say a couple hours."

"Too long. Any way to speed it up?"

"I'm sorry, there isn't. But, if mister Kururugi over there would like to lend you one of his…" 

Sam turned towards Kuro. "Two things: One, your last name is Kururugi? Nevermind. Second, please? Look, they've already started the battle rounds. I need to hurry if I'm gonna catch Kin."

Kurogasa replied, "Two things for you in return. One, You must not be a good listener, because I've already told you my last name, and two, you can only borrow Flash. Flame is a little arrogant when he's more powerful than the trainer."

Sam held out his hand. "Fine. Lemme see." 

Kurogasa pulled out a pokeball and tossed it to Sam. "Here you go. Flash hasn't battled much, so it hasn't been trained much, but still, I know a pokemon's potential, and this guy has a lot of raw power."

Sam caught the ball and thanked Kuro. On his way out the door, Sam mumbled, "When I get my hands on that brother of mine, I'll bring out his battle spirit myself. He knows how much I hate contests."

Kurogasa shouted, just before the doors closed, "Sam! You might want to see this!"

Sam went back inside. "What is it? I need to get to Kin before… Oh my Arceus. Is he TIED to that guy?" And indeed, Sam Kindle's brother was shouting at a guy, ON SCREEN, while the kid was trying to battle. "Why the HELL would someone tie those two together? From what it looks like, they aren't getting along!"

Kuro shrugged. "I don't know, but you'd better get going. Kin doesn't have to wait for his pokemon to be healed, remember? He can just go straight to… And of course, Sam leaves me in mid sentence." And indeed, Sam had already left for the contest hall.

Sam was running as fast as he could, determined to get to the Contest Hall and talk to Kin. He knew it would be a close one because the contest hall was on the far side of town, but he knew he could make it. Sam was running so fast, the world was a blur. He could only see what was right in front of him, therefore, he almost didn't see it when he finally reached the contest hall. He skidded to a halt and looked at it, listening to the crowd inside. He wasted no time pulling out Flash's pokeball. He pressed the button to make it grow to full size, and tossed it in the air. "Flash, Let's go!"

The little Sparchim was happy, and then something caught its eye. Flash jumped up and down excitedly and Sam turned to look. It was the external monitor, which was displaying a battle between a Cunniter and a Thundape. Sam groaned when he saw who was commanding the Cunnister. "Kin, you'll get your pokemon KILLED one day." Sam turned to Flash. "And would you please stop Mankey-ing around?"

Flash stopped. "Good. Now, let's go inside and I'll give Kin a piece of my mind." Sam charged through the doors into the main lobby. There were two other main passages leading out of the lobby. One was marked 'Contestants' and the other was marked 'Stands.' Sam muttered, "Idiot proof," and walked into the passage to the stands.

As he walked through the winding passage, he returned Flash, went up three flights of stairs, around multiple curves, and when he came out, he was finally in the stands. He looked down to see Kin, STILL TIED TO THE WEIRD DUDE, commanding the Cunnister and still arguing with the guy. Sam sighed and kept walking, keeping his eyes on his brother.

Sam didn't see where he was going, and bumped into a lady who was glued to Kin. Not literally, but she wouldn't take here eyes off him. Sam apologized, and the lady barely glanced at him. She had curly purple hair and eyes to match. She wore pants that were colored jet-black, and a grayish-green shirt with the letters TE emblazoned upon it. She didn't say a word and looked back to Kin, but then she did a double-take. Sam had started to walk ahead, but then the woman spoke. "Wait a second, young man."

Sam stopped and turned around. "Can I help you?"

"Yes. That kid down there, in the finals. The one with the necklace… Do you know him?"

Sam looked down to see Kin getting an electrical shock from the Thundape, along with the kid he was tied up with. "Yeah, he's my brother. Why?"

The lady nodded thoughtfully. "Interesting… My name is Demetra. And yours?"

Sam was uncomfortable. "Um… Why?"

Demetra snapped, "Answer the question!"

Sam took a step backwards. "Sam. Sam Kindle."

Demetra closed her eyes, and Sam thought about running off, when Demetra said, "Don't think of running. I want to talk with you for a while."

Sam looked at the field and heard Mary-Ann shout, "Time!" Sam then glanced at the scoreboard to see that Kin had actually won the match.

"Um, sorry, Demetra, but I need to go now. I need to talk to my brother…"

"No time for that now! You will talk to me. Where did you get that necklace?" 

Sam kept glancing over at Kin, down on the battlefield, while Demetra cornered him in a section of the stands. "My dad got it for me. Can I go?"

Demetra ignored him. "When and where?"

Sam was trying to get free, because Kin had gone off the field. "At the Topaz mines, a few years ago! Now let me go!"

Demetra didn't relent, but thought. "Why not? I have the information I need. Go see your brother."

Demetra let Sam go, and Sam rushed off, thinking, _What a creep._ Then, Sam remembered that Kin was within running distance, and he picked up his pace. When Sam was back in the lobby, he caught a glimpse of Kin going out the front door, and tried to run to him, but the thick crowd in the lobby wouldn't let him. Sam gave up and went to sit down on a couch.

After a certain amount of time that Sam didn't count, a person walked over and sat down with him. He had sort brown hair and green eyes, with a polo shirt to match. His pants were tan and his shoes were black. The guy looked about four years older than Sam, and the guy said, "Man, that was a rough contest."

Sam was just looking at the door, where Kin had gotten way. "Whatever."

The guy playfully punched him in the shoulder. "Hey, you just won your first ribbon, didn't you? Lighten up! Who cares if you and Alexander wouldn't stop shouting at each other?"

Sam turned to face him and sighed. "No, you've got the wrong guy. You see, Kin is my twin brother. You should've noticed my hair is shorter. By a lot."

The guy looked amazed. "Well blow me away! I'm sorry, didn't know." He held out a hand. "My name's Forest. I should've introduced myself earlier."

Sam shook Forest's hand. "Mine's Sam. Do you know where Kin went?"

Forest was confused. "I thought you came here to watch him, right? I mean, that's what anybody would assume."

Sam shook his head. "No. You see, Kin left home a day before me, and I've been trying to catch up to him. I almost had him here, but then a weird woman named Demetra wouldn't let me leave the stands. Kin got away again…"

Forest patted Sam's shoulder and said, "Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. Hey you know what? I've got something that will cheer you up a lot. My mom is really sloppy sometimes, and she accidentally sent me two PokeComs. You want one?"

Forest held out a red PokeCom. It wasn't that different from the PokeGear, but the PokeCom was ten times more efficient, and instead of a watch design, it was a clip on. It could go anywhere from your hair to your sock, and was much more transportable. Sam reached out and took it. "Thanks!" He quickly fastened it to his left sleeve and said, "Well, I guess I should go return Flash to Kuro now. Thanks for everything, Forest."

Forest stood up in the now-empty lobby. "Hang on. What pokemon is Flash?"

"A Sparchim. Why?"

Forest smiled. "I want to see just how good that Flash is. Whaddya say? My Thundape versus your Sparchim? We'll go easy on you."

Sam thought about it. If he won, Kuro would be amazed. If he lost, he would have just lost to a really experienced person. "You got it! Out in front?"

Forest smiled. "Yeah! Let's go!"

_**Awww…. I know you all wanted Kin to meet Sam, but that's not meant to be. Yet. And did you notice the new character, Demetra? Any guessed who she is? And while you're guessing stuff…**_

_**WHO"S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**This pokemon is never seen at day because of its gaseous form.**_

_**No Pokedex!**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Ok, Today, I got back from the Pokemon Regional Championship for the Southeast, in Duluth. I came in dead last. The guy I faced had a good strategy, though. He used a Tyrannitar to get a sandstorm, and Cresselia. He saw that I was faster, and used Trick Room to slow us down. Then Tyrannitar used Rock slide to affect all my pokemon at once. Cresselia also used helping hand to boost Tyrannitar's attack. I ended up knocking out Tyrannitar, but he had Groudon. Need I say more?**_

_**But, I still had fun, so that's that. And, I need to tell you guys…**_

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**It's… VAMPAS!**_

_**Nobody got it right this time, sadly. Charmander Hero did come close, but not quite. Anyways, on with the story!**_

Sam stood by Forest in front of the Contest Hall. "Ready?" He asked.

Forest smiled. "I thought I would never see the moment when I battled two promising new trainers both on the same day. And both of them twins!"

Sam smiled. "Back home, they call us the Topaz twins because of our necklaces!"

Forest nodded. "Well alright! It's battle Time! Thundape, Let's hit it!" Forest threw Thundape's pokeball in the air, and the giant monkey appeared.

"Thun…DAPE!"

Sam was taken aback by the raw power of the Electric Monkey's cry. "Ok, Flash, Let's Battle!" Sam took out Flash's pokeball and tossed it up, and the little pokemon came out. Well, it was little in comparison to Thundape.

Flash took one look and nearly ran back to Sam. "Spar! Sparchim Sparchim!"

Sam shouted to Flash, "Flash, Don't be intimidated! You can do it! Let's start this battle with Spark!" Flash let loose from it's body a small stream of Sparks that ran in a continuous line towards Thundape.

"Thundape, use Discharge!" Thundape roared and its body lit up with electricity. The electricity was then directed at Sparchim, and they cut through the Spark attack like Scissors on paper. The volts hit Flash, enveloping him.

Flash cried out in pain, and the electricity dissipated. "Flash, Are you alright?" Flash held up a thumb. "Great! Then use Quick Attack!" Flash was off in a flash (pun intended). The Spark Monkey hit the Thunder Monkey in the legs, toppling him to the ground.

Forest shouted, "Thundape, get up! Use Charge, then focus the energy in your fist. Then use a Focus Thunder punch!"

Sam was stunned. Focus Thunder Punch? Sounds like a contest move. Then he saw the real danger in the attack. Thundape seemed to draw light from the air, illuminating its body like a Christmas light. Then, the light seemed to stop, until Thundape's fist shone, ten times brighter than it's body had. Sam forced himself to keep his eyes open. It was beautiful… _Stop it! _Sam's inner vouice said. _Next thing you know, you'll enter a contest! Focus!_

Sam grimaced. "If I don't attack, It'll be over… Flash, use Double Team!"

Flash instantly multiplied into one hundred or so Sparchim, only one of them real. Forest began to sweat, but then calmed down. "Thundape, keep charging up power! Then, keep the power in your fist and use Focus Punch!"

Thundape's body kept lighting up, only to disappear and the closed fist would brighten up a little more. Sam knew that soon, the electricity would blind everyone, and only the fake Flash's wouldn't squint. "Flash, use Spark!" 

All one hundred Copies of Flash lit up and send streams of Sparks at Thundape. Thundape flew in a certain direction, and then Forest knew. "Thundape, that's the real one, over there!" Forest pointed back the direction Thundape had flown from, and the many Flash's seemed to gasp. Then, Flash's copies all retracted back, confirming Forest's prediction.

Sam shouted, 'Flash, Spark once more!" Flash lit up again, and this time, a solid beam of electricity. It hit Thundape straight on, and, it may have been Sam's imagination, but he thought he could see the faintest creases of strain on Thundpe's forehead. "Wow Flash, that was the strongest Spark I've ever seen!"

Forest crossed his arms. "That's because Flash used Thundershock. Don't get comfy with it, though. That move is usually on and off for a while after the first use. But, I can help you out with training! Thundape, let loose all your strength, use Focus Punch!" Thundape let out an almighty cry that shook the ground and the already electrified fist turned an astonishing white. Sam shielded his eyes, and Forest's eyes glinted. "Now! Unleash your full power!" Thundape ran at Flash at astonishing speed, fist drawn back.

"Flash, use Double Team!" Flash once again split into one hundred copies, and Thundape's Focus Thunder Punch slammed into a copy. However, the attack was so strong, shockwaves were sent out, blowing trees and Sam was knocked over. As the shock waves of the attack spread, more and more illusions disappeared.

Sam stood up and watched as the shockwave hit the real Flash, sending forcing Flash's legs into the ground. "Flash, no!"

Forest threw out his fist. "Now! Charge power again. Don't focus it, let it flow through your body! Flash struggled against the ground, but it was no use. Flash was stuck. Thundape began to glow again, but this time, when the light disappeared, it was replaced with electrical currents, streaming all over Thundape's body. From head to tail, Thundape was powered up.

Sam made a desperate attempt to continue. "Flash, use Thundershock!" Flash, who was still trapped in the ground, began to shine. The electricity began to build up until Flash couldn't take it anymore. The little Sparchim let loose an amazing Thundershock that even Thundape was impressed at. It hit Thundape, disrupting the energy flow. Thundape lost concentration, and the electrical charges flowed out of its body.

Flash was still trapped, but At least Thundape was delayed. Forest was really into the battle. "Thundape, let's finish this! Use Close Combat now!" Thundape ran at Flash, and began to punch and kick as hard as it could. Flash, who already was at an evolution disadvantage, was knocked out quickly. Sam grimaced, and Forest smiled. "Hey, Sam, you put up a good fight. You had two stages of evolution to make up for. Anyone else would have lost a long time ago."

Sam smiled and held up Flash's pokeball, returning Flash to the sphere. "You're right. And Flash learned Thundershock! Wait until Kurogasa hears this!"

"YOU WHAT?" Kuro screeched.

Sam backed up. "Hey, I thought you'd be happy to—"

"YOU BATTLED A _THUNDAPE? _WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

Sam took another step backwards, now pinned against the wall. "Kuro, Flash—" 

"I DON"T CARE WHAT ABOUT FLASH! YOU COULD HAVE SERIOUSLY HURT HIM!"

"Sam shouted over Kuro, "Flash learned Thundershock!"

"SO? I—" Then Kurogasa registered what Sam had said. "Did you say Thundershock?" Kurogasa took Sam's pokedex and thumbed through the pokemon and selected Sparchim. He muted the pokedex and click for specific readings. "Sparchim usually learn Thundershock at level twenty-four, and they usually evolve at level twenty-five, so that means… Sam, you leveled up Sparchim three times!"

Kuro hugged Sam, and Sam suddenly felt uncomfortable. "Um.. Kuro? Chansey is staring…"

Kuro let go. "Sorry man, I just want Sparchim to evolve so bad, and you got me that much closer."

Sam pushed Kuro away. "Yeah, nice. Can we get a head start to the next town? I want to catch Kin.

Kuro shifted back and forth. "Well, after seeing YOUR battle with Stoak, I was inspired. I want to collect badges too."

Sam stared. "You're kidding, right?"

"Not at all."

Sam walked out the door. "Then I'll be waiting at the gym! Come on!"

Kuro sighed and walked after Sam.

_**WHO"S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**This pokemon Carries a staff of wood to amplify its attacks.**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**WHO"S THAT POKEMON?**_

It's… Assassigrass! The only one who got it was WildCroconaw, but there'll always be next time!

Sam and Kurogasa were back at the gym. Kurogasa was talking with the official referee about a battle. "Come on," He pleaded. "Just one battle, ok? Is Stoak back yet?"

The referee nodded. "Yes, but Brachby and Geodude are still out for the count. He does have two more, but…"

"But what?" Sam cut in.

"We're out of Pebble Badges. Stoak went out to the badge creator that lives somewhere in the forest around this part to get more."

Kuro was angry. So was Sam. Kuro shouted, "But I need to have a battle now!"

Sam pushed Kuro out of the way. "And I need to catch up to my brother!"

The referee thought. "Ok, I'll entrust you with Stoak's two pokemon. Take them out to the woods and find the badge maker, and you can have the battle there. Stoak will take his pokemon back himself, and you'll have a head start on your journey, ok?"

Sam and Kurogasa calmed down. "Ok," said Sam. "I'll referee that match. You ok, Kuro?"

Kuro seemed to heat up, but it was just an illusion. "Fine. Let's go! Ref, you know where the pokemon are?" 

The man nodded. "They're right here." He held out two pokeballs and Sam took them. "Do either of you have a PokeCom? I need to be able to call you if anything happens and I need the pokemon back."

Kuro shook his head no, but Sam nodded. "Yep. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, Kuro. Forest gave me a PokeCom."

Kuro asked, "Really? Did you register the map the man gave us?" Sam sweat-dropped. "I guess that means no. Here, let me see both of them." Sam handed Kurogasa the sheet of paper and the PokeCom that was clipped to his sleeve. Kuro flipped the map around to see a barcode on the bottom. He activated the PokeCom's scanning device, and scanned the map in. "See? Now, we can scan in the man's phone number. Where's your PokeCom?"

The ref held out a yellow PokeCom. "Right here! Shall we scan?" 

"Yes, let's." The two put the scanning bars together, and the phone numbers were instantly registered in each other. Kuro gave Sam the PokeCom back. "Alright, Sam, now we can go. Thanks for everything, Mr. Ref guy,"

Mr. Ref guy said, "Actually, it's Mario, but ok. Bye!"

Sam and Kuro walked back out the door and were on their way to the northern exit of Crystalline City. "So," said Sam. "How long do you think until Flash evolves?"

Kurogasa shrugged. "I dunno. I'd guess around three more battles. Or, If I'm lucky, shorter."

Sam nodded, and the pair continued in silence, until Kuro asked, "Sam, if you want to catch up to Kin so bad, why did you stick around? You could have left Flash with me and just gone. "

Sam didn't know what to say. "I don't know. I guess such a thing never occurred to me. Maybe because… You're my friend?"

It was the right thing to say, because Kuro hugged Sam again. Sam pushed him off. "Dude! No straight guy hugs another unless they're related!"

Kurogasa hastily let go. "Sorry, sorry. It's just, you stayed behind and let your brother go, just to keep my company. That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me!" 

Sam walked faster. "Yeah… Right… Let's speed up. We've barely reached town limits, and your battle is waiting." Kuro sped up to match Sam, and they walked in silence. They watched as the trees gradually grew thicker, and then Sam stopped. "Kuro? Do you know where we are?"

Kuro looked around. "Can't say I do, Sam. Are we lost? Check the PokeCom."

Sam did. "Can't get a signal here. What's the point of a PokeCom if it can't get reception where you really need it?"

Kuro sighed. "Is it turned on?"

Sam checked, and flipped a switch. "Now it is. Let's see… We seem to be… In a forest, off of the main path."

Kuro looked like he wanted to punch Sam. "No, really? My Arceus, you ARE dumb."

But Sam wasn't listening. Something had caught his eye, something bluish. Under his breath, he whispered, "Ocori. Is that you?"

Something in his heart knew it was, but when he walked towards it, it seemed to rush off in a direction. Kuro noticed this and called to Sam, "Hey, where are you going?" 

But Sam wasn't listening. He was walking to where he had seen Ocori, and when he pushed a bush away, he saw what they were looking for: The house of the badge maker. Or, at least, it looked like the badge maker's house. How many log cabins could be secluded in the woods like this one? Sam said to himself, "Ocori led me here. He showed us how close we were."

Then Kurogasa came up. "Sam, what…? We made it. Is that the right house?"

Sam nodded. "Let's go see if anybody's home."

Sam and Kuro walked up to the front door, and no sooner did Sam's fist knock on the wood, did it fly open, an old man standing in front of them. "Hello?" Kuro asked. "Is this the house of the badge maker?"

The man, who had green hair and gray eyes, nodded, and said, "Yes, I am. Come on in! Are you feeling ok? Do you want something to eat?"

Sam and Kuro were pushed inside, and the door slammed shut behind them. Sam looked around the room, and was awed. There was only one adjoining room, where the man presumably slept, but it was what was in the room that had Sam reeling.

The house, from the inside, was shaped like a nonagon, or a polygon with nine sides. On the far back wall was a heating mechanism that looked like an old iron stove. Stacked neatly against every other wall was, from left to right: the Pebble, Breeze, Muscle, Shock, Life, Subzero, Aquatic, and Darkness Badges. In other words, on each wall, there was stored one type of Yinji Badge, Sam recognized the Pebble Badge immediately, but the others took a second. The man went around in front of them and said, "Welcome to my house. I am Smith, the Badge Blacksmith. What can I do for you?"

Sam was still mesmerized by the sheer number of badges present, but Kurogasa spoke up. "My name is Kurogasa Kururugi, and this is my friend, Sam Kindle. We heard that Stoak came here to get some more Pebble Badges to take back to the Gym? Well, I would like to battle him. We were given two of his pokemon to escort to him on the chance he says yes. Is he here?"

Smith pointed to the door in the back, next to the iron machine. "He's in there, packing up the badges. Should I go get him?"

Kuro nodded. "Yes please. Tell him it's for a Gym Battle, ok? Smith was already in the back.. Kuro punched Sam in the shoulder, barely in time to stop him from drooling out the mouth. "Sam! Stop that, ok? I know these are a lot of badges, and I know you'll probably never see this place again, but still, stay focused!"

Sam said, "I'm sorry, Kuro, it's just… Look at all of them…" Sam almost sank back into the hypnotic state, but at that moment, Smith came out of the back, with Stoak in tow.

Stoak greeted them. "Hey guys, didn't expect to see you here. I thought you'd already be on the way to Cobalt City to face off against Hawkins. Why are you still here?"

Kuro explained. "After seeing your battle with Sa, I was inspired… I'd like a battle against you for the Pebble Badge!"

"Well—Kurogasa, was it?—I'd love to, but I don't have my pokemon with me. I'm sorry."

Sam held out the two pokeballs that Mario had given them back at the gym. "Mario told us to give these to you so that you could accept. Not sure who you have in here, though."

Stoak took the Pokeballs. "Well, you've got me cornered! I'll have a battle with you, right in front of the house. Smith, could you referee?"

Sam was about to protest, but Kuro held his mouth shut. Smith said, "I'd love to. And, If either of you want to, I'll trade out your new badges for badges that are in mint condition, and also wrapped in a protective layer. Whaddya say? Your badges will stay shiny without the need to polish them!"

Sam eagerly held out his badge case and Smith took the Pebble Badge inside. Smith took out the Pebble badge inside, carefully put on gloves, set down the first Pebble Badge, and selected a new one from the stack on the wall. He then opened a compartment in the iron stove, and set the badge in the plastic-like casing that was inside. Smith then returned the new, shinier badge to his Badge Case and put it in his bag. Smith said, "Now, I'll send out two mint badges to each gym leader wit instructions to hand them out to you two, and only you two. Now, don't you have a gym battle to attend?"

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON?**_

This pokemon has a five foot long tongue and is NOT part of the Lickitung family.

_**No pokedex! And it IS a hard one.**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**WHO"S THST POKEMON?**_

_**It's… Dractail! Charmander Hero came close once again, even naming the pokemon in her review, but she chose Dractail's EVOLUTION, Dracbite. It's all right, though. The two are really similar. Now, don't we have a Gym Battle to attend?**_

Smith was standing in front of the front door, the front porch serving as a makeshift referee stand. "This match will be a two on two Gym Battle between Kurogasa Kururugi of New Bark Town and Leader Stoak of Crystalline City!" Sam was mouthing the words as they came out of Smith's mouth, as he was still sour over the fact that Smith was chosen over Smith as the referee.

Kurogasa pulled out a pokeball at the same time Stoak did. Stoak said, "Alright Kurogasa, I've seen your friend Sam in action, let's see if you're as good!" Stoak threw his pokeball, and out came a Ponavel, the rocks on its back seeming to flare up as it laded and neighed.

Kuro mused, "A Ponavel, huh? Hey Sam! Pull out your pokedex?"

"Why don't you do it yourself?"

"My Pokedex doesn't get reception on any pokemon outside the Johto-Kanto connection."

Sam sighed, pulling out the red device. He pointed it at Ponavel, and it read, _Ponavel, the Boulder Horse Pokemon. It polishes its body made out of rock daily and matches a Rapidash in speed. Its diet consists of grass and small rocks._

"Thank you, Sam!"

"Up Yours!"

Kurogasa turned back to Stoak. "Alright, Stoak. Now that I know about Ponavel, I choose you, Flame!" He threw his pokeball, and the Volcano Pokemon appeared.

Stoak smiled. "Alright, you can have the first move!"

Kuro smiled. "Alright Flame, let's go! Use Flamethrower!"

Flame opened his mouth and out came a large jet of red-hot flames, which hit Ponavel head on for a direct hit. Ponavel had tried to dodge, but it was too slow. "Ponavel!" Stoak shouted. Then he directed his attention at Kurogasa. "Your Typhlosion is really fast! But so is Ponavel! Let's go, use Rock Polish!" The rocks on Ponavel's back glowed red for a moment, and then they returned to a normal brown.

"Flame, use Flame Wheel!" The fire that spouted from Flame's back grew and, as Flame spun, encircled his entire body. Flame Wheel raced towards Ponavel, but this time, Ponavel expertly dodged it with no trouble. Kuro grimaced. "I expected as much after Rock Polish… We won't go down! Flame, use Rollout continuously!" Flame curled up again, but the flames didn't encircle him as they did before. He rolled towards Ponavel, who dodged again. Flame changed directions, and rolled back towards Ponavel, who was on Kuro's side of the field.

Stoak knew that each time Flame made a rotation, he would get faster and faster. "Ponavel, use Bounce!" Ponavel jumped as high as it could, just as Flame rolled to where Ponavel had been. Flame uncurled and looked up in amazement.

"Flame, don't just stand there, use Flamethrower straight up!" Flame did, and it hit Ponavel, who was unable to dodge. Ponavel fell, landing on Flame, despite 100 to 1 odds. Flame struggled to get out from under the sixty-eight pound deadweight.

While Flame struggled, Stoak shouted, "Ponavel, use Take Down!"

Kuro was amazed. "What? Ponavel is barely conscious!"

Stoak grimaced. "If Ponavel can't win, then neither can Flame! Go Ponavel, do it!"

Ponavel struggled to get up, but in doing so, freed Flame. The Pokemon stood up proudly and shouted, "PHLOSION!"

Kuro smiled. "That's the way! Use Lava Plume to end it!" Flame opened his mouth, and red smoke with fire erupted around his mouth, sending a wave of fire at Ponavel.

"Ponavel, dodge it and try to use that Take Down!" Ponavel ran straight at the wave of fire, being scorched on the way. Then, a dim streak of light was left behind Ponavel, as it began to sag. Ponavel was definitely going down, but not before Flame went with it! Ponavel was almost there…

"Flame, dodge!" Then before Ponavel's fading vision, the giant lizard-like pokemon jumped out of the way. Ponavel fell, but Flame didn't.

Smith raised a hand. "Ponavel is unable to battle! The round goes to Flame! Stoak, send out your next pokemon!"

Stoak pulled out the other Pokeball that Sam had delivered. Sam, by the way, was riveted to the battle. Stoak smiled. "You're just as tough as Sam, but I won't loose twice! Let's go, Onix!" Stoak threw the second pokeball, and out came the giant rock snake. Sam remembered how his dad used to have an Onix. One wonders what happened to it. He turned attention back to the battle. Kuro didn't ask for a pokedex reading; who would need one? This was one of the most famous rock types ever discovered. Almost every prominent Rock trainer owned one, so Kuro was probably ready. Kuro smiled. "Alright, let's use Flamethrower!"

Flame opened its mouth spewing large flames. The fire surrounded Onix, but it hardly flinched for a moment.

Stoak smiled at Kuro's amazement. "Onix and I have been training long and hard. Onix has a defense for almost every type. I'll bet Onix didn't feel a thing! But Flame will when we use Rock Tomb!" Onix roared and slammed its tail into the ground, causing stone buried beneath the soil on the ground to rise up and form a circle around Flame, trapping it. Flame tried to jump, but the rocks were too high. Stoak smiled. "Now use Earthquake!" Onix slammed its tail into the ground again, and shockwaves flew outwards in a ring and the two battlers almost lost their footing as the earth became even unstable. When the shockwaves reached the tomb of rocks, the group could hear Flame cry out in pain.

Sam couldn't see, but he knew that inside the Rock Tomb, Flame was being tossed against the walls endlessly, unable to do anything but be hit in the face over and over. Finally, the Earthquake ended, and Stoak called, "Alright Onix, release them from Rock Tomb, and see if they're still standing. No pokemon has ever withstood THAT combo before!"

The rocks retreated into the ground, and Flame was on the ground, knocked out. It was what everyone there had expected. Kurogasa was surprised. "Wha—We've spent so long on our defense! …But it's all right. Flame, take a nice break. You did your best, and I'm proud of you." Kuro put Flame's pokeball back, and pulled out the next one. "Go, Flash!" The Sparchim appeared on the field, ready for battle.

Stoak said, "Now I know why you went with Flame in the beginning. You had no pokemon with an advantage! But that's behind us! Onix, Sandstorm!" Onix spun around in circles until a good cloud of sand was rustled up, and then it kept spinning, aggravating the dust and creating a real sandstorm. Flash was instantly sucked into the tornado, where any attack launched would be absorbed by the sand.

Flash kept its footing, but was trapped. "Flash, wait it out! When the Sandstorm dies down, use Thundershock! If Onix attacks before it's over, use Double Team and then use Quick Attack!" Flash heard, and began to settle down. Soon, Sam could see through the sand, and knew that the attack was almost over. Then, Sam saw the beginning of the Thundershock inside the tornado of sand. Then, it erupted, hitting Onix square in the face. Onix grunted, which was surprising, seeing as Onix was supposed to have an immunity to Electricity.

"Onix, use Rock Tomb!"

"Flash, jump away!" Flash jumped at the exact moment that Onix struck the ground, therefore, the Rocks didn't know the target, so they were scattered around the field. "Great! Now use Quick Attack!" Flash darted towards Onix, flitting through the rocks like a Combee through a flower field. Flash slammed into Onix, causing the Rock Snake Pokemon distress. It didn't necessarily hurt, just caused discomfort. And, as most people reading this story know, prolonged discomfort is a real bitch.

Flash bounced right off Onix, leaving a small mark. Onix didn't notice yet, but Sam thought it probably felt a slight need to scratch the spot. His prediction was right, because when Stoak ordered another Sandstorm, Onix ignored, opting rather to put its mouth to the spot where Flash had hit. Stoak was taken aback. "Onix, what's wrong?"

Kurogasas smiled. "My Flash has a a little trick called Static. Paralyzes on contact, you know. Of course, it shouldn't have done anything with the immunity, but I sure am lucky. Flash, let's go! Use Thundershock, close range!"

Flash ran towards Onix while Onix was scratching, charging up power at the same time. When Flash was practically touching Onix, it let loose hundreds of volts of electricity. While only a few were actually absorbed by Onix, it was enough. Because Onix was already partially paralyzed by static, and the fact that it wasn't used to electricity, Onix cried out, and fell, fainted. "Onix!" Stoak ran out and tried to cradle Onix's giant head.

Sam muttered under his breath, "Come on, evolve… evolve, come on…" But Flash did not evolve. Then, Sam was hit with sudden realization. Not to why Flash didn't evolve, but to why he could override the immunity. He pulled out his pokedex, looked at the picture of Sparchim, then looked at Flash… There it was.

Meanwhile, Stoak was congratulating Kuro on his victory. Smith had ran inside to get Kuro's badge. When Smith ran back out, he announced, "I present to you, Kurogasa, the Pebble Badge! This will be your first stop on the way to the Yinji League."

Sam stood up. "Well, this is great, but we need to get going. And Kuro, I have to explain something to you. Let's get moving!"

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**This pokemon can freeze its fur to needle-points to protect from damage.**_

_**I think you know that you shouldn't use the pokedex by now, so I'll stop saying it.**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**WHO"S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**It's… Glaceon!**_

_**I think that people were so interested in what was up with Flash that they forgot about the Who's that pokemon. Well, here's the thing!**_

Kurogasa and Sam had been walking on the road for a while, and, according to the PokeCom, they were about a day and a half's walk from Cobalt City, the department store, and the second Gym in Yinji.

Sam was so thoughtful during the trip, Kuro wasn't sure if it was really Sam. Sam was usually so headstrong and reckless, but this was unusual. "Sam, can you tell me what's up?"

Sam turned to Kurogasa. "What?"

"Well, when we left Smith's house, you told me that there was something important, but you've yet to say one word during the whole trip. Anything wrong?"

Sam shook his head. "Nah, just thinking. I wasn't sure if my eyesight was failing or not."

"Sam, you turned ten a couple days ago. I think you have perfect vision. What's up?"

"Ok, send out Flash. I know why he could override the immunity."

Kuro pulled out the pokeball and threw it up. Flash appeared, looking confused. "Chim?"

"Ok Sam, so now what?"

"Here, see my pokedex. Look at the picture of the Sparchim, then look at Flash."

Kuro looked. "I don't see anything."

Sam sighed, and the group kept walking. "Do I need to spell it out for you?"

"Sam, talk straight. I can't make heads or tails out of what you're saying. What the F**k is up with Flash? I can't see anything."

"Flash is shiny, simple as that. Still need explanation?"

Kuro stopped walking, but then he saw that Flash and Sam hadn't stopped. "Sam? What do you men, 'Shiny?'"

Sam looked back at Kuro, who had started to jog to catch up. "You're serious? You don't know the term shiny?"

"No, can't say I do."

Sam just shook his head. "Shiny pokemon are differently colored that other pokemon. Pokemon like Caterpie that are shiny actually have skin of gold. Not literally, but gold colored. Yanmega have purple skin and pink wing tips when they're shiny."

"You're making this up. How come I've never seen a shiny pokemon before?"

"Because there is a one in three-thousand chance of finding one. They're very rare, and that's why they're so special. And although it's never been conferment there have been reports of Ground type moves like Mud Bomb and Sand Tomb AFFECTING Flying types. And get this: Guess what kind of pokemon used the moves? That's right. A Dugtrio with a blue nose. Shiny. Kuro, you HAVE a shiny pokemon!"

"Oh Yeah? How come thee picture looks the same?"

"Some pokemon only differ by a few shades, making it hard to tell. I would have noticed earlier, but a few years ago, they upgraded pokeballs everywhere to release a sparkle whenever the pokemon was send out. Before the upgrade, only shiny pokemon would release the sparkle."

"Right… And I'm supposed to believe you why?"

"Just look at the crown of rigid fur above Flash's eyes." The group stopped walking.

"Ok… Oh my. That isn't Black, it's Gray! And Flash has an orange tint! Flash IS a shiny pokemon!"

Sam nodded. "That's right. I don't know why I didn't see it earlier. Some pokemon, like Froslass are only slight in the color changes."

After walking for a while, they ran into a trainer who was walking along the road.

"Hello!" Kuro cheerily said. "How are you?"

The trainer looked at them. "Good. Who are you?"

_**And… Cut! I know it's short, and I know it only explains that Flash is shiny, but I needed a filler. I hope it wasn't too boring. Instead of the WHOS THAT POKEMON? I'm going to give something else. **_

_**An OC form, for the trainer they ran into! The pair both need rivals, and here is the first one!**_

_**Name:**_

_**Age:**_

_**Pokemon: (What stage will they catch them in and what moves will they learn along the way?)**_

_**Appearance:**_

_**Personality:**_

_**Past:**_

_**And I'll see you next chapter!**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Ok, I've looked over the OC's sent in, and I've decided. Let's meet the rival…**_

The trainer, who had short, light brown hair and brown eyes, asked again, "I asked, what are your names?"

Sam said, "My name is Sam Kindle. Nice to meet you."

Kuro extended his hand. "Kurogasa Kururugi. You can call me Kuro, for short."

The trainer reached out and grabbed Kuro's hand, smiling warmly. "My name's Grant. Grant Stone." Grant noticed the way Sam and Kuro looked at him. "What?"

"Stone?" Sam asked. "Your last name…"

"…Is Stone?" Kurogasa finished.

Grant shrugged. "Yeah, so?"

Sam almost exploded. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN SO WHAT? IF YOUR LAST NAME IS STONE, YOUR DAD IS THE HOENN CHAMPION!" 

Kuro was able to contain himself, unlike Sam, who was being restrained by Kuro."

Grant smiled modestly. "Actually, former champion. Two years ago, Wallace, the eighth Hoenn leader, beat him. Then, we moved back to my hometown of Rukon, out in Hokkaido. Then, he secured a position in the Elite Four, but nobody really gets past the second guy. He's number four, so he gets to travel a lot.

Sam and Kuro were slack-jawed. "You really have a powerful dad," said Kurogasa.

Sam's eyes glinted. "You wouldn't happen to be as powerful as him, would you?"

Grant shrugged. "Not quite. But really, if you want a battle…" Grant pulled out a pokeball. "…I'd be willing to oblige."

Sam pulled out his two pokeballs and said, "You bet! Let's—Hang on, did you hear that?"

Kuro listened carefully. "I don't hear any—Wait! It sounds like…"

Grant finished, "…Something splashing around."

Sam unclipped the PokeCom from his sleeve and looked at it. "We ARE close to a small pond, where Ninjater and Flipseal are known to live, and I need a water pokemon…"

Grant gestured. "We could pay them a visit. Plus, maybe there is some Hokkaido pokemon. There aren't that many water pokemon native to Yinji."

Kuro nodded. "True. Despite being around seventeen percent of the entire NationalDex, there are very few found here, and only here. I mean, you can still find a Corphish or a Marill here and there, but none are as common as Flipseal. We should check it out. We can all get water pokemon."

Grant looked at Sam. "I guess our battle is postponed until after our trip to the lake. That ok with you?"

Sam nodded. "Sure. Let's go get us some Water Pokemon!"

Kuro smiled thoughtfully. Grant noticed. "Hey, Kuro, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing. It would just be good for me to have a second Johto pokemon on my team. You know, homesickness."

Grant agreed. "I would go nuts if I didn't have a Hokkaido pokemon on my team."

Sam was already barreling through the bushes. "Well lucky me then, this is my home region, so I'm good! Now hurry up!"

Sam and Kuro were having the worst of luck. The fishing rods that Kurogasa had could barely catch anything, and they were running out of bait, catching nothing but Magikarp. Grant, on the other hand, had caught multiple Flipseal, and even found a Golduck and a Goldeen, which were both amazingly rare in Yinji, seeing as they aren't native to the region. But Grant rejected them all, opting instead to look even harder for a Hokkaido pokemon.

Kuro muttered to Sam, "If he wanted at Hokkaido pokemon so bad, just contact his hometown professor to get one. Jeez."

Sam agreed. "All we have are freaking Magikarp. The next time Grant snags something, I'm going to ask him for it." And Sam didn't have to wait long, because soon, Grant got his sixth bite of the day. Sam ran over, pulling on the rod. "I'll help you!"

Grant handed Sam the rod, and Sam pulled as hard as he could. "Careful," said Grant. "You might break the reel."

But the reel didn't break, and Sam was looking at… two pokemon. It was a double catch, and Sam felt like the luckiest little son of a bi**h to walk the earth, because he had hooked a Staryu and a Flipseal. Sam took a step back, watching as the two pokemon untangled themselves from the rod. "Oh my god," He breathed. "This is SO AWESOME!"

Grant butted in. "Screw the Hokkaido pokemon, I got dibs on the Flipseal!"

Sam drew two pokeballs; one with Redwing, the other was empty. He tossed Redwing's ball in the air, and the mini-cardinal appeared. "Then I've got the Staryu! GO, Redwing, use Wing Attack!"

Grant also pulled out pokeballs in the same manner as Sam. "Alright! Go, Larvow!" He tossed a pokeball, and out acme a pokemon that Sam had never even heard of before. It was shaped like a miniature Heracross without the horn, but colored a deep black. It stood on six legs, like a Spinarak, except they were extremely sharp, and fatal-looking, and it also had a jaw that looked strong enough to crack a Nanab berry with a single chomp.

Sam pulled out his pokedex. "What IS that?" He pointed the Pokedex. _Larvow, the Vile Tick Pokemon. No further data provided. _Sam closed it. "So THAT'S a Hokkaido pokemon! Grant, do you have a pokedex?"

Grant pulled out an identical looking pokedex. "What do you think?" _Larvow, the Vile Tick Pokemon. Larvow gets all of its nourishment from the blood of its prey. By using its small, jaw-like pincers, it can latch onto any Ursaring without fail, sometimes draining it to death. If threatened, it scuttles into the shadows._

Sam looked at the machine. "You've got some pretty long Pokedex entries in Hokkaido, don't you?"

Grant grinned, but then he was alarmed. "Sam! Look at Redwing!"

Sam whirled around to see Redwing being beaten down by the Staryu, who was using Water Gun to beat Redwing around. "Redwing, use Quick Attack to escape the Water Guns and then use Wing Attack again!"

Redwing obliged, but it only succeeded in the Quick Attack, because at that moment, Staryu used Body Slam, which, with more power than Redwing, knocked her back and into a tree. "Redwing, use Quick Attack!" Redwing peeled herself from the bark, and flew directly at the Staryu, this time connecting solidly, with a resounding THUD. The red light on Staryu's stomach/body/whatever began to furiously blink red, and Sam shouted, "Alright! Go, Pokeball!" Sam threw the empty pokeball he had been holding, and it hit the Staryu, pulling it inside in a bright flash of red light. Sam ran up to the ball and clamped his hands down on it hard, in his manner of preventing the pokemon inside from escaping. Grant wasn't in the least surprised, actually having used the technique once or twice himself. Kuro was also complacent, having watched Sam catch Redwing this way. The ball clicked, and Sam was euphoric. "YES! I caught a Staryu, and it was all thanks to Redwing!"

Grant coughed. He had, by the way, already captured the Flipseal, in astonishing time, and he said, "Excuse me? You used my rod!"  
Sam turned to Grant. "Who cares? We both got our pokemon. Kuro, still wanna have a go?"

"Nah, I'm good. I guess I'm not the water type guy. I'll stick with a grass type when we find one, ok?"

Sam shrugged. "Your loss. So Grant, still want that battle?"

Grant shook his head. "No thanks, Larvow is tired from taking down Flipseal. But maybe some other time, ok?"

Sam smiled a half-hearted smile. "Yeah, I guess so… You know what? I'm going to strengthen my team, then come after you and WIN!"

Grant laughed. "Whatever you say, Sam! See you around!"

Sam waved as Grant walked off in the direction of Crystalline City. Sam turned to Kuro. "It was nice meeting him, and I caught a Staryu! I guess I should name it."

Kuro snickered. "Name it something pathetic, like Squirt!"

Sam punched Kuro on the shoulder lightly. "Hey, stop joking. This Staryu IS pretty cool, and he DOES have a sweet look about him. He's like a star! And, he's deadly… I know!"

Kuro asked, "What's it going to be?"

"You know those throwing things that Ninjas carry?"

"You mean Shurikens?"

"Yeah! I'm going to call Staryu Shuriken! "

Kuro tapped the Pokeball. "Well then, welcome to the team, Shuriken."

Sam and Kuro started back down the road, but it wasn't very long until another complication arose. As they were walking, Kuro stepped on something. "Hey Sam, any idea what this is?"

Sam peered over Kuro's shoulder. "It looks like a Pokedex. You should know what the Yinji model looks like by now, shouldn't you? Anyways, we'd better check the Tariner ID, to see who this belongs to."

Sam flipped it open and expertly manipulated the buttons. Then, he heard the last words he expected to hear. _This Pokedex, issued by Professor Willow, is the property of Susumu "Kin" Kindle. This is the end of the Trainer ID._

Sam was incredulous. "What the? How does a trainer like Kin loose his pokedex?"

Kuro was unfocused on Sam. "Umm… Sam? We've got a problem."

Sam turned around, and his face paled. An entire colony of… "STINGEE!"

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**This pokemon, is the only known pokemon to not faint after a selfdestruct.**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**It's… Extruct! Nobody got it this time; nobody even tried. Come on guys, please try. Anyways… The last time we saw Sam; he was about to be chased by a group of…**_

"STINGEE!" Sam shouted again. The group of Stingee flashed their scythes, but then cocked their heads in confusion.

Kuro whispered, "What do you think is wrong with them?"

Sam whispered back, "I think it's because of the bug eyes. If we don't move, they can't see us. Sadly, we're going to have to move eventually."

Kuro almost nodded, before remembering the dozen sharp scythes being pointed at him. Then, one by one, the Stingee retreated to the bushes. Sam straightened up with a sigh. "Thank Arceus THAT's over."

Kuro smiled back. "Yeah, my back hurts. But now it's time to get to the next town. Wasn't it Cobalt City next?"

Sam nodded. "Yep. Let's get moving." NO sooner did the words come out of his mouth did the Stingee return, this time four times as many. They didn't hesitate, and neither did Sam or Kuro.

Sam shouted, "Alright, Shuriken and Flare! Let's battle!"

Now, Kuro DID hesitate. "Sam, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Sam turned to look sat Kuro. "What does it look like? Oh yeah, Redwing, you too!" Sam tossed another Pokeball in the air, and the Stingee charged before Kuro could get in another word. "Flare, Ember! Redwing, Wing Attack, and Shuriken, use Water Gun!"

Flare hit four of the Stingee with a vortex of Embers, and Redwing slammed two of them in the necks, one on each wing. Shuriken, though, missed them altogether and got cut in the left leg. "Shuriken, are you alright?"

The quick reply was "Hyah!"

"Great! Use Rapid Spin and Water Gun at the same time! Redwing, use a continuous Quick Attack! Flare, keep up the Embers!"

The trio of pokemon kept attacking the Stingee in the same manner as before. Redwing was moving to fast to be seen. Flare was literally fired up, so if the Stingee touched him, the heat scorched them. The only one who wasn't completely amazing was Shuriken. He was trying to speed up for Rapid Spin, but every time he got momentum, he was stung. Soon, the light on his chest was blinking rapidly, so Sam returned him. "Alright Kuro, you need to help now!"

Kuro drew a pokeball, muttering, "This is madness." Madness or not, though, already more than three fourths were already down. Kuro threw the pokeball, and out came Flash, who was ready for battle. "Flash, use Thundershock on every Stingee you can!" And Flash did. Every time a Stingee came near Flash, Sam, or Kuro, Flash would shock it into unconsciousness. Flash was on a roll, and soon, the last Stingee hit the ground. Kuro was amazed. "Wow, Flash, you did amazing! Stingee are one of the most violent pokemon ever, and you helped to take down an entire hive!"

Flash gave him two thumbs up, and Sam thought, "This is the part where the encouraged pokemon usually evolves." But he didn't, and Flash remained a Sparchim. Sam almost stamped his foot. What was wrong with that shiny pokemon? Why wouldn't he evolve? Maybe because it was shiny? Yeah, that had to be it. Maybe. So, Sam would just have to wait to see the amazing spectacle of evolution.

Kuro was busy high-fiving Flash when the first Stingee woke up. Sam was lost in thought, and Kuro was lost in happiness, and Sam's pokemon were in their pokeballs, but Flash noticed. "Chim! Chim! Sparchim!" Flash shouted.

Kuro let go of Flash and looked around. "Flash, what is… Oh my Arceus, we've got to go Sam! Now!"

Sam was jolted out of his revere. "What? Why do we… The Stingee are waking up! My pokemon are pooped! Run!"

Sam the group was out of there before the third Stingee woke up. Almost a mile away and five minutes later, Sam and Kuro were panting and putting their hands on their knees. "Hey Kuro?" Asked Sam.

"Yeah Sam?"

"You ever get the feeling you've forgotten something? Something important?"

Kuro nodded. "Yeah, I have that feeling right now. But what is it…?"

Sam looked around, and it hit him like an Aggron at full speed. "Kuro?"

"Yeah?" 

"Where's Flash?"

_**Dun-dun-dun! Suspenseful ending to a short chapter!**_

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**This pokemon often shocks itself, the same way a Pichu would.**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**It's… Bunsniff! The people who got it right are: et4279 and WildCroconaw, so congrats on getting it right! Now, the last time we saw Sam, he had just run from a vicious group of Stingee, and realized that Flash is missing!**_

Sam and Kuro were running as fast as they could. "How could you let him out of your sight? Kuro yelled at Sam as they ran.

Without slowing down, Sam yelled back, "Why was I supposed to keep MY eye out? Flash is your pokemon!" Kuro didn't have a response, so he just ran harder. "Kuro, wait up!"

Kuro looked back over his shoulder. "Flash is MY pokemon, remember?"

It took Sam and Kuro another five minutes to run back to the Stingee nest. Sam shouted, "Flash? Are you here? Flash?" The little Sparchim was nowhere in sight. "FLASH?" Kuro was getting even more worried. Sam was equally as nervous. The Stingee were gone, and that was even MORE worrisome.

"What if they took Flash?"

Kuro didn't answer. He was busy looking around in the bushes. "I'm going to look over—" Kuro was cut off by a rustling in the bushes on the other side of him. "FLASH? IS THAT YOU? FLASH?" Kuro ran into the bushes and instantly fell on his butt, rebounding off of something. Sam pulled apart the bushes and there was a pokemon on the ground, rubbing its head. It had A long, wire-like tail with sparks running along the length, feet that were shaped like human hands, and four separate fingers on the end of each arm, with an opposable thumb on each. It was covered in a deep yellow-covered fur and two lightning bolt shapes above its electric blue eyes. Its short, tough teeth were clenched in pain, most likely from a headache. Kuro just apologized to the pokemon and turned around, while Sam took out his pokedex. He listened to the entry. _"Monkelectric, the Electric Monkey Pokemon, and the evolved form of Sparchim. Monkelectric has a natural craving for Apricorns, and will release waves of electricity from its tail if unhappy. It has a bitter rivalry with Monpoi." _Kuro turned back around at the mention of "Electric Monkey." Sam just kept glancing between his pokedex and the Monkelectric. "Sam, Monkelectric is the evolved form of Sparchim, right?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. And Flash was close to evolving, right?"

"Yeah. Sam, is this pokemon shiny?"

Sam consulted the picture one more time. "Yes. Yes it is."

Kuro looked ready to burst into tears. "Flash… That IS you!" Kuro ran forward and grabbed Flash in a hug. And indeed, it was Flash. If one looked closely, it wasn't a dark yellow fur, but rather light orange. And the black lightning bolt eyebrows weren't actually black, they were a deep gray.

Flash returned the embrace. "Tric! Monkelectric!"

Sam just smiled. "It's a match made in crazy land. The over-emotional trainer and the shiny pokemon are reunited."

Kuro looked at Sam, and so did Flash. The two grinned, and Flash's tail erupted into a flurry of electricity. "Be careful what you say next, Sam. It may decide whether you arrive in Cobalt as a human or human BARBEQUE."

Sam scoffed. "Yeah, what's that little Sparchim… Oh crap. That's no Sparchim. That's a Monkelectric! Oh crap!"

Kuro nodded and his grin grew devilish. "Flash, I imagine you mastered Thundershock in your evolution, am I right?"

Flash joined Kuro in the maniac grin, and Sam backed up. "Kuro, if I ever did anything to offend you, I—"

"Flash, Thundershock!" Sam was extra-crispy before he could utter another word.

"Ku-ro… I…" Sam fell to the ground, unconscious.

Kurogasa turned to Flash. "What happened? Why didn't you run with us? You were the first to notice the danger we were in. So why couldn't you run?"

Flash began to pantomime actions, and after a while, Kuro began to get the picture. At the same time Flash finished telling Kuro what happened, Sam began to wake up. The first thing Sam did was grab Kuro's shirt by the collar, and begin to growl out a threat. "Kuro, if you do that again…" Flash began sparking along the tail, and Sam backed up. "I'm going to… Um… Nevermind."

Kuro flashed a smirk (pun intended). "Yeah, that's what I thought. By the way, Flash told me what happened while you were out."

Sam was confused. "What? Can you really understand each other?"

Kuro sighed. "It's called acting it out. You ever try it?"

Sam shook his head. "Nope. But still, tell me what's up about the."

Kuro began, "Ok, according to Flash, here's what happened…"

*********Start Flashback************

Kuro said, "Flash, what is… Oh my Arceus, we've got to go, Sam! Now!"

Flash turned to see Sam jerk to reality, out of his thoughts. "What? Why do we… The Stingee are waking up, and my pokemon are pooped! Run!"

Flash turned and began to run after Kuro, but a large (to Flash) Scythe slammed down in front of him. Flash looked up to see the first of the Stingee to be preventing him from running. Flash tried to move over the side to run, but then he slammed into another scythe. Four Stingee were using their two scythes to form a box around Flash, forcing him to stay put. Flash sparked a little, but it wasn't enough. The Stingee stayed put, and Flash was separated from Sam and Kurogasa. Flash grew angry that these pokemon dared remove him from his favorite human in the world. That was big mistake on the Stingees' part. The angrier Flash was, the brighter his tail flashed, and the four pokemon let Flash loose to shield their eyes. Flash was loose, and he let loose a giant Thundershock, paralyzing and heavily damaging all the Stingee in range. The Stingee, now infuriated, attacked in a single motion, but Flash jumped high and shocked them from above. The Stingee all collapsed into a pile, and Flash landed on top. He began to beat his chest and scream. "CHIIM! SPAR…CHIIIIIM!" Flash began to glow a bright white. Flash grew larger, the form in the light changing shape. The tail grew twice as long, Flash grew a lot taller, and the light disappeared. Flash was now a Monkelectric, and ready to blast the Stingee into orbit. The Stingee leader was still conscious, and Flash watched as its eyes widened in amazement. Flash grinned and let loose every volt of electricity in his body. The electricity was drawn into each Stingee's body, making them blast through the bushes at two hundred miles per hour. Flash, who was exhausted from the effort, collapsed into another bush, where he rested until Sam and Kuro found him.

***********End Flashback**************

Sam blinked. "Wow. That's a lot. Flash, can you travel? I want to see just how much your moves have improved. Don't worry, it won't be long."

Kuro sighed. "Sam, check the PokeCom. According to how fast we've been making progress so far, how long does the PokeCom say until we reach Cobalt City?"

Sam unclipped the PokeCom and looked at the map. "That would be… Four days. I hope we aren't attacked by any more pokemon, or it could take five."

Kuro's sighed again. "Sam, it's going to take almost a week, and you barely care. We need to make progress. The next Yinji League Tournament starts in six months. If we're going to get seven more badges in that time, we need to STEP ON IT! Let's move! ON to Cobalt City!"

_**Yeah, I finally put in writing what I put in your heads three or four chapters ago: Flash has evolved. The first evolution of the story. How'd ya like it?**_

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**This pokemon protect its body and pincers with a three-inch thick steel coat.**_

_**Remember, only pokemon in the YinjiDex are eligible for WTP, so it's not Scizor.**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON? **_

_**It's Durab! Congratulations to Charmander Hero for getting it right! But, if anyone else would care to try, the entry is free! I know I haven't updated, but I was on a family trip to Israel. No free internet, and I didn't have computer to type with anyways, so I had no access.**_

Sam and Kuro had been traveling for three days since Flash's evolution. Sam was downright cranky. "HOW MUCH FARTHER?"

Kuro sighed, as he had been putting up with this for a while. He had found that the new Thundershock wasn't as big a threat as he had originally hoped, as Sam would fall unconscious, and Kuro would have to drag him around. Sam was cranky precisely because of the Thundershocks, and after he realized what Kuro had, he made every attempt to be as annoying as possible. "I told you five minutes ago, because we got lost back there, we won't arrive for another eight days."

Sam kept whining. "But you said seven days left three days ago!"

Kuro barely resisted the urge to bring out Flash for a quick Thundershock. "Sam, I swear…. If you get us lost because you're too lazy to check the PokeCom and then COMPLAIN about it again, I swear, I will have Flash drain every volt in his body and put you in a coma!"

Sam blanched, but then began to regain composure, if that's what you could call his irritated state of mind. "Oh, really? You'd never do that for two reasons. One, I'm your friend. Two, you'd have to lug me around everywhere. Now tell me I'm wrong, and be truthful about it."

Kuro couldn't say it, because he knew Sam was right, which only irritated him more. He quickly changed the subject. "Sam, what exercise have you been letting your pokemon have lately? I've only seen you do one training session since Flash evolved. And Shuriken seemed to struggle back with the Stingee."

Sam instantly lost his bad temper. "Oh my Arceus, you're right! Shuriken needs to work on his Rapid Sip!" Kuro stared at Sam and stopped walking. Sam looked back. "What?"

Kuro sighed. "Rapid _Sip? _Don't you mean Rapid _Spin?_"

Sam grinned and scratched the back of his head. "I guess I'm just tired. Sorry."

Kuro shook his head. "Maybe we could stop and set up camp early tonight. You need rest, and our pokemon need to train."

Sam nodded in agreement. "Ok, tent and pillow, or extra comfy sleeping bag? 'Cause I brought both from home, in case it rains."

Kuro thought. "The tent wouldn't be as comfortable, and it takes longer to set up, so I'll go with sleeping bags. It's always fun to see the stars.

Sam nodded. "I couldn't agree more. I need to rest."

After a few minutes, and some struggling with Sam's backpack, the duo were lying down on the sleeping bags and resting. Kuro said, "Hey Sam?"

Sam yawned. "Yeah?"

"I was thinking… If we need to get seven badges in six months, we would need to get one and a half per month. I mean, not LITERALY a badge and a half, just be close to the next town by then."

Sam yawned again. "I know. But it's still only June, and the competition is in December, so… Yeah."

"Hey Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"It's late already, so wanna just call in a night?"

"You bet."

Kuro smiled and closed his eyes. "Hey Sam?" Sam was asleep already. Kurogasa quickly followed.

The next morning, when sam woke up, he looked over at Kurogasa's sleeping bag to find that it was empty. Sam got out of his sleeping bag, threw on a fresh shirt, jacket and pants, and shouted, "Kuro? Where are you?"

"Right here, you don't need to shout." Sam whirled around to see Kuro standing in the undergrowth along the sides of the path. "Glad to see you're finally up. I've been training for the last couple hours. You need to get started also. Guess what I've decided to make my signature move?"

Sam growled and turned away. "Thundershock?"

Kuro repressed a chuckle. "Yep. And By the way, I saw how shuriken fought the Stingee, he seemed more graceful than powerful."

Sam shot a sideway glance at Kurogasa. "Trying to say something?"

Kurogasa shook his head. "See for yourself. Try to cut down a tree with Shuriken's Rapid Spin."

Sam pulled out a pokeball. "You know what? I'm going to work with Shuriken last. Redwing, Let's Go!" Sam threw the pokeball and Cardiby appeared in a burst of light.

"Beee! Cardiby!"

Sam pointed at a nearby Oak tree sapling. "Redwing, cut down that tree with a Wing Attack!"

Redwings' wings began to glow a bright white and she rushed at the tree. Kuro slinked back into the forest to train with Flash and Flame. Cardiby slammed into the tree with surprising force. When she flew out of the gash, Sam held up a hand. "Hold it, Redwing!" Sam inspected the damage. Whoa, almost a clean cut… " And indeed, the young oak tree was already more than halfway chopped down after the first attack. Sam looked at Redwing. "Ok, your Wing Attack is already more than excellent, so we don't need to work on that, but your Peck could be a little stronger. Ready to start?"

"Bee!"

"Good!" Sam looked around and saw some small rocks. He picked them up and held one, ready to throw. "Some of these I'm going to tell you to dodge, and some I'm going to say Peck. If I say Peck, shatter it with your beak. If I say dodge, don't let it hit you, ok?" A quick nod from the bird pokemon began the session. Sam tossed the first rock. "Dodge!" The rock missed by a mile. The next rock: "Peck!" Redwing was able to shatter it without even using the move. Sam was impressed. "Wow, Redwing, that's good! I guess we can skip to rapid fire. I'm going to say a string of commands, either dodge or peck. Then I'm going to throw that many rocks at you, and you need to follow each command to the letter, got it?" The bird nodded. "Let's go!"

Three hours and many rocks later, an exhausted Redwing fluttered to Sam's shoulder. Sam stroked her shoulder. "Nice job Redwing, you were a real good sport, especially in the past thirty minutes. And you were also patient when I needed to go look for more rocks. That's a really good battle quality." Redwing took the compliment silently, instead poking into Sam's berry case for an Oran Berry. Redwing found the treasure and gulped it down in one bite. Sam laughed. "It'll take about ten minutes to fully heal. Until then, you can rest. Return!" Sam pulled out the red and white sphere and Redwing disappeared inside.

Sam got up and stretched. Doing so, he dropped the two pokedexes. He looked at his pokedex, then flipped open Kin's. He read the first name over and over. "Susumu…. I haven't called you that in so long, bro. I wish I could return this to you… And maybe crack a joke about contests, just t get you angry…" Sam chuckled and put the two pokedexes back in his pocket. But training needs to continue! Flare, let's go! Sam pulled out the second out of the three pokeballs. The little dog barked happily and ran circles, happy to be let out. Sam laughed. "Ok Flare, that's enough, you can run as much as you want in our training, because we're going to have a speed session."

Flare stopped in mid jump, falling on his back. Then he remembered the opportunity to run around and sat at attention. "Aroof?"

Sam smiled. "You always make me laugh, Flare. Ok, First, let's do sprints…"

Kuro was watching Sam from the tree line opposite him. He nudged Flame on one side and Flash on the other, and he said, "Ten Bucks says that Flare wins." Nobody argued with him.

Back with Sam, Flare was winning the sprints by two lengths. As Sam touched a fallen log and began to sprint to the other one, Flare barked at him as it was on it's way back. Sam was too concentrated to respond, and when he touched the second marker, an elm tree, he sprinted back to the log, and began to gain on Flare. Sam and Flare kept at this for a long time, Sam always coming close, and then Flare pulling ahead, and beating Sam in the lap. Finally, after ten minutes of full speed sprints, Sam sat down, Flare on his lap, the little Poochember tuckered out from all the running. Sam pulled a Sitrus berry from his bag, one of the few he kept in case a pokemon was seriously injured.

"Here, eat this. You seem really tired." Flare was shocked that Sam would give a Sitrus Berry, as he wasn't even moderately injured. Sam kept persisting. "Flare, that sprint was only the warm up. I'm afraid you might drop dead if you don't get some energy." After that, Flare didn't hesitate. Sitrus Berries worked ten times as fast as Oran berries, so after barely a minute, Flare was fully charged and ready to go.

Kuro, still in the trees, was still waiting for the Staryu to come out. Sam, however, was trying to teach Flare how to burn stuff with Ember without starting a forest fire. "Good luck," Kuro muttered. He returned his pokemon so that they could wait for a while until they were needed. He walked out of the trees, saying, "Try working on Quick Attack first. Much safer. And remember to use Shuriken."

Sam glanced at Kuro, acknowledged him with a slight nod, and said, "Ok Flare, you heard him, let's use Quick Attack on that tree over there!" Flare was gone in a heartbeat, the tree toppled, and Flare's momentum kept him going for a long time, until Sam and Kuro could barely see him. Then, he began to come back, slower than before, and when he got back, he happily licked Kuro's face, not caring about the giant path of destruction he had left. Kuro pushed him away and sheepishly grinned at Sam. "Maybe a Quick Attack directly after speed training wasn't the best idea after all."

Sam wordlessly returned Flare. After he pulled out his third pokeball, he said, "Ok then. Here's what you've been waiting for. Ready? Shuriken, let's go!"

Sam threw the pokeball, and out came the Staryu, with a loud, "Hyah!"

"Ok Shuriken, before we get any work done, we need to know your whole move set. I know you know Rapid Spin and Water Gun, but let's see your other moves, ok?"

Shuriken nodded, and turned to a tree. A sky-blue colored circle of energy began to build up on the peak of Shuriken's head (or the segment of his body that was on top), and he fired a crackling beam at Kuro. Kuro exclaimed, "What the-?" Before he was frozen solid.

Sam nodded. "Ice Beam super! That'll help a lot against Grass type foes, you know. Anything else?" Shuriken let out a sad cry and twisted back and forth, presumably shaking its head. "Ok, that's good. Three moves can get us through the next Gym, especially with three pokemon. Ok, so now I want you to freeze that tree right there." Sam pointed to yet another tree, and Shuriken obliged. The tree, which was about five feet taller than Sam, was harder than rock. "Nice Job, Shuriken, now, Let's try cutting the ice off without harming the tree, ok?"

"Hyah!" Staryu began to freeze the lower base of the tree.

At this moment, the ice surrounding Kuro began to melt. Sam took notice and began to rub the ice to make it melt faster. When Kuro was thawed, the tree was 90% frozen. Kuro was shivering, but he managed to say, "Shu-Shu-Shuriken? … When y-you cut the i-ice offff… Cut it into… Tiny P-Pieces….Please?"

Sam hefted Kuro onto his shoulder and carried him back to the sleeping bag. "Flare, keep Kuro warm!" He threw the pokeball for the second time that day and out came the fire pup, ready for a nice nap. Sam looked back at the tree to see that after Shuriken chopped off a piece of ice, he would spin so fast, you couldn't focus on any one part of him. Sam admired the speed, and knew the training was paying off. However, after a while, Sam realized that Shuriken was trying to make the ice SPARKLE. Sam began to twitch. "Shuriken, just focus on cutting the ice off, ok? We'll work on precision later." Shuriken paid no heed, and soon the air was filled with beautiful sparkles. But Sam didn't care about beautiful; he cared about power. Then he sighed in defeat. "I don't want a pokemon that acts like Kin, but you can't argue that Shuriken has high speed and special stats… I'll keep him around."

Kuro began to heat up, and Sam turned to him. "Ok, so now that we've got our practice, we should move on. Hawknis might get tired of waiting."

Kuro stood up. "He doesn't even know we're coming. And Shuriken still needs to practice Water Gun and Ice Beam."

Sam frowned. "Ok, what do you think we should work on?"

Kuro said, "Shuriken, use Water gun and Ice Beam at the same time, while spinning in a circle!"

Sam realized the trick. "Kuro, Shuriken is NOT a contest pokemon, just let him be, ok?"

Kuro nodded, but under his breath, he said, "Oh, Sam, if only you knew…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing. I said, look at Shuriken. That really looks cool."

Sam slowly turned. Shuriken was standing in a perfect pose, with a frozen swirl of water above him, shaped like a whirlpool. Even Sam was awestruck. Not by the beauty, but by the size. "DANG! Shuriken, that's really tall! How did you make the swirl that tall?"

Kuro smacked Sam on the head. "Sam! For ONCE, could you just appreciate the BEAUTY of it? It's not always about brute strength, or extreme speed, or even defence, ok? It's also about the looks!"

Sam was unfazed. "What, you want me to actually try a contest?"

Kuro twitched. "It wouldn't HURT to try, now would it?"

Sam shook his head. "Sorry pal, no-can-do."

Kuro sighed. "By the way, we're actually way closer to Cobalt then I told you yesterday."

Sam perked up. "What?"

"Yeah, I actually took a walk this morning, and found that the Contest Hall is on this edge of town. Any guesses what I did while I was there?"

Sam checked his sleeve for his PokeCom. It wasn't there. "You used my PokeCom to register me for the contest?"

Kuro nodded. "Yep. I wasn't training at all. You are now entry number seven in the Cobalt City Pokemon Contest."

_**Ok! What do you think? Sam is PISSED! Please review, and be sure to guess this:**_

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON? **_

_**This pokemon has a long tail that is coated with a rubber-like substance to prevent electricity from shocking anything it touches.**_


	16. Chapter 16

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON? **_

_**It's… Raichu! Yeah, I know this was a tough one, and one would have to remember the full pokedex entry for it, but still, thanks for trying!**_

Sam was ready to kill Kuro. "You… Little…"

Kuro cut him off. "Now, Sam, you don't have to be upset. In fact, most of the contest is battling, remember?"

"No, I don't remember, because I have never see a contest on TV before!" 

"Wait, what about back in Crystalline—"

"Don't mention that!" Sam's eye twitched furiously. "Did you ever stop to think that I didn't want to?"

"I know you didn't want to, but if you enter one, you might know what its LIKE being a coordinator."

Sam ignored him. "I mean, have I ever done anything to you that you didn't want to happen?"

Kuro thought. "Diving into a sixty foot deep lake at Entity Lake, Embarrassing me at Smith's house by drooling at the badges, battling with Flash without my permission, and THEN, you—"

Sam cut him off. "Nevermind! I just don't want to do it, ok?"

"You can quit if you want."

Sam furiously gestured. "No! You've cornered me! I have never quit anything before in my life, and I'm not about to start now!" Sam's voice dropped to a low hiss. "You have me cornered. Fine, I'll compete in your STUPID contest, but you owe me. You owe me BIG TIME. Do you understand? You will owe me your LIFE."

"I understand, but first we need to get you something to wear."

Sam was astounded. "What? You're kidding me! First you sign me up for something I DON'T WANT TO DO, then you make me do the preparations?"

"You can always quit."

"I'm not a quitter, ok? Now… How do these people decide what to wear?"

"I thought you would know, growing up with a coordinator."

Sam stared, then grumbled. "Let's just pack up camp. We'll think about it on the way there."

Once the sleeping bags were packed, the canteens put away, and the fire doused, the duo moved on. "SO, you were the one who violated my personal rights, so you find out a way to get the stupid clothes stuff, ok Kuro?"

"Well, if you insist. What do you want to wear?"

"I don't."

"I mean, hypothetically, if you were being forced by your best non-related friend to compete in a contest, what would you wear?"

"I don't know, because the last time I even thought of that question was two years ago, when I decided I would punch them in the face." Catching Kuro's meaningful glance to his pokeball belt, Sam hastily added, "But there's no need to bring out Flash, ok? I've matured since then."

Kuro sighed. "Well now we're back to square one. Most coordinators wear stuff to reflect on the pokemon they enter. I registered you for Shuriken and Flare. Now what do you want to wear?"

Sam thought. "Well, if I HAD to—"

"You do."

Sam glared at Kuro. "Thank you for interrupting, king of the idiots. Now, I guess I would wear something red. Flare is awesome for being fire type, and Shuriken is just colored red, so I guess something firy."

Kuro nodded. "Good, you're starting to get the idea."

"What idea?"

"That you are actually going to do something you hate, even though you have the option to back out."

"I've never quit before, so I won't now, ok?"

"Whatever you say. So, something that reflects fire types, huh?"

"Yeah, whatever."

"Ok, what you're wearing is already three pieces, so we just need to fancy that up!"

Sam was extremely confused. "Huh?"

Kuro tried to explain. "You see the three main colors associated with fire are red, orange, and yellow. I can see it now: You in red pants, an ORANGE jacket, and a yellow shirt."

Sam looked down. "Except for the color-swab, I don't see any difference. I though you said these things are supposed to be fancy?"

Kuro nodded. "I forgot about that. We'll get you something with LOTS of laces."

Sam twitched. "I hate you."

"You're my best friend also."

The two walked in silence. "Kuro, how much longer?"

"About an hour."

"Ok. And Kuro? Right before I went to sleep last night, you were about to ask me something. What was it?"

Kuro had completely forgotten about what he was going to say. "Umm… Oh yeah! On the pokedex, it said that Kin's name was Susumu. What's up with that?"

Sam sighed, because he had needed to explain this many times before, and he was prepared for a long conversation. "Kin is just a nickname, ok? His real name is Susumu, and that's it, end of story, ok?"

"But why?"

Sam repressed a sigh. It ALWAYS went like this… "Kin's got this thing for Japan, and our mom could see it at birth, so she named him Susumu."

"How does that tie in to Japan?"

"Susumu is the Japanese word for Advancing. My brother is literally named 'advancement.'"

"Ok, I understand." Sam breathed a sigh of relief. Was it really over that fast? "But what I don't get is how he came up with the nickname Kin. How'd he do that?"

Sam began to be annoyed, even though it hadn't been that long yet. "I don't know, ok? He's going though this phase where he dropped the Japan-style, opting to stay in plain English, so he chose a nickname, which, for some reason that I don't understand, was Kin, ok?"

Kuro looked at Sam. "You say the word 'ok' too much, you know that?"

Sam sighed. "Just leave me alone, ok? I'm tense over the contest thing that you forced me to do, and I hate explaining my brother's nickname to people."

"I'm not forcing you to do the contest, you refuse to quit."

"I know, just shut up for an hour, ok?"

"Ok, but then we need to find some contest clothes for you."

Sam resisted the temptation to punch Kuro in the face, and the two walked in silence. To Kuro, the walk seemed to take thirty minutes. To Sam, it felt like hours. "How much longer?" He would ask.

"Ten minutes."

"Ok… Now how much longer?"

Kuro sighed. He was beginning to regret signing Sam up for the contest. He was a whiny little jacka** when it came to trying something new. "Hey Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"You can arrive in Cobalt either with a smile on your face and a purpose in your step, or you can arrive unconscious, over my shoulder, your clothes burned with electricity. You got that?"

Sam was quiet from then on out. But Kuro, true to his word, was correct in guessing that they would be there in ten minutes. Sam and Kurogasa stood on a hill looking down upon the City of Cobalt. Sam nudged Kuro. "Can we go to the—" 

"No we cannot go to the gym until after the contest."

"But whhhyyyyyyyy?"

"Sam stop being so simple-minded, ok? You only hate contests because you have a one-track mind. Learn to accept new things, ok?"

"That doesn't say why!"

"Just come with me to the clothes store and be happy about it, ok?"

"Pick one."

"Follow me."

"Not what I would've picked."

"I'm not you."

"No, but I can complain all I want. I know my rights. Freedom of speech!" Kuro's hand tightened on Flash's pokeball. "On second thought, I don't need to complain."

"Good. Time to go clothes shopping!"

Sam was having a miserable day. He hadn't realized that Cobalt City was home of the Yinji department store, and Kurogasa was dragging him to different stores crammed into the giant one, trying to find the right stuff. The red pants with the stupid laces on the end were easy, and a yellow T-shit was no problem, but the orange jacket with the lace was proving resilient. Not that Sam cared, but Kuro insisted.

Sam let Kurogasa drag his arm from store to store, and Sam didn't move a muscle to help at all. The only moves he ever made by himself were towards the store exits. Kuro was getting tired, and Sam was thankful that there were only two clothes stores left in the entire mall. Then, in the final store… "Hey look Sam, I found it!"

Sam looked up from his miserable thoughts. "What? That?"

It was a jacket much like Sam's but it was a little brighter, orange, and had yellow patterns running up and down the sleeves, similar to the ones that were observed to be on Rayquaza. Kuro nodded. "Yeah, whaddya think of it?"

Sam rubbed his eyes. "I think it looks more like what that guy from the Kanto Battle Frontier would wear than a contest shirt. In other words, I like it!"

Kuro playfully punched Sam on the shoulder. "See? If you loosen up and give it a chance, you'll like it."

Sam punched back, not quite as playful. "Hey, The jacket looks cool, ok? That's it. I still don't like contests."

"You've never participated in one!" 

"Don't need to. Let's go check into the Pokemon Center, ok?"

"Fine. The jacket fits you, right?"

Sam took the jacket and replaced his usual one with it. A perfect fit. "Alright? Can we go now? I want to turn in early tonight."

"Anxious for the contest?" Kuro teased.

"No, I'm just tired." And indeed, Sam looked ready to fall over. Sam and Kuro walked to the elevator, and Sam pressed the button for the lobby. When the doors opened, Sam walked out and towards the door, not caring that he bumped into someone on the way. The two both landed on their butts, and Sam mumbled a quiet, "Sorry," and started to get back up, without looking.

Kuro somehow made it behind Sam without being noticed, and said in his ear, "Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise?"

"NII-SAN?" The person asked. The voice jolted Sam to reality.

Sam scratched the back of his head. "What's up, Kin?"

_**THEY MEET AT LAST! Half of you might have expected it, others might not have, but it's epic! Sam is gearing up for something he hates, Susumu/Kin is right there with him! Isn't it awesome?**_

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON? **_

_**This rock pokemon, who has extremely high defense, actually has weak skin inside its armor. **_


	17. Chapter 17

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**It's… Golem! Yeah, that one was pretty easy. And guess who got it right? Congratulations to HokkaidoMaster! For being the only one who actually guessed, this chapter is dedicated to him.**_

Sam was in shock. He had wanted to catch up to Kin for a long time, but now that he had, he couldn't believe it! "Hey," he said again. "How're you doing?" He was acting really calm; to impress his twin brother, but inside, he was reeling. He hadn't expected to catch up to Kin THIS fast!

The two stood up, and after looking each other in the eye for a few moments, embraced each other in a brotherly hug. "Nii-San, I can't believe it's you!"

Sam replied, "Same to you, Kin! How are you?" Sam caught Kin's use of his childhood nickname.

The brothers let go of each other. "I'm great! Thank you! How've YOU been?"

Sam was unable to answer immediately because of his shock, but after a few seconds, he loosened up. "I'm… Fine."

Kin caught the slight pause. "Nii-San, what's wrong?"

Kuro chose this moment to enter. "Hello, Kin. I believe we've met before?"

Kin was speechless. He pointed back and forth between Sam and Kuro. "You… He… in Crystaline… You were there?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. I actually didn't believe it myself. Until I saw you're appeal on TV, I thought it was some other Kin that that girl was talking about…"

Kin jolted. "You saw Diana?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, how'd you know? And a bigger question, why are you competing in contests?"

Kin said, "Can we walk back to the Pokemon Center? I, uh, kinda caught a pokemon on accident, and I'm not sure if it's healthy…" Sam was amazed. "Wow! How many pokemon do you have?"

Kin motioned for the trio to start walking. "Well, I have Kaze, De-Chan, Draco, Lulu, and Nishikihebi, so five."

Sam almost stopped, but upon seeing Kin keep moving, he ran to catch up. "Wait, FIVE? I haven't even gotten my second badge, and you have FIVE pokemon?"

Kin nodded. "Yeah. How many you got?"

"Well, I've got Redwing, Flare, and Shuriken… Wait, what was that last pokemon you had? Did you say…?"

Kin nodded. "Yep, I found Dad's Onix. For some reason, he was just outside of Crystaline. Something must've happened to dad…Hey look, there's the Pokemon Center!"

And it was there, and the trio walked inside. "Good afternoon!" The Nurse Joy greeted generously. "Welcome back, Susumu. Your sheets have been changed." Then she went back to work.

Sam looked at his brother. "Susumu? You mean you're not using your nickname anymore?"

Sam's brother shook his head. "Nope. No more Kin for me. I'm back to Susumu."

Kuro said, "Not to sound rude, but I'm kinda fading into the background here. Nobody's gonna tell me what's going on?"

Sam turned to Kurogasa. Kuro, if you're not going to listen, you might as well go watch TV over there." Sam pointed to the TV and the couches nestled in the corner of the lobby, and Kurogasa looked back at Sam.

"Valid point. I'll see ya later."

Sam turned back to Susumu. "So, bro, you never answered WHY you were competing in contests! You remember how much grief I gave you about that when we were little kids!"

Susumu nodded. "I know, but they just appeal to me. No pun intended."

Sam shook his head. "Susumu, you are IMPOSSIBLE."

Susumu replied, "Think what you want, but do you know what IS gonna be impossible? The double performance tomorrow."

Sam stared. "What…what did you just say?"

"I know, I know, you don't like contests, so I will understand if you'd rather have your Gym battle with Hawkins instead of coming to watch—"

"No, no, not that! Did you say DOUBLE performance?"

Susumu nodded. "Yeah. So what? I've already picked out my four pokemon."

Sam cursed. "I'm gonna KILL that son of a B**CH!" Susumu took a step away and remained quiet. He knew from experience that Sam wouldn't stop until he got a chance to cool down. Sam stormed over to the couches to have a heated conversation with Kurogasa. "Kuro?" He hissed.

Kuro made a 'shhh' noise. "Quiet! The show's back on!"

Sam grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. "Kuro, why did you fail to mention that this contest was a DOUBLE PERFORMANCE?" Sam meant to whisper the last part, but he couldn't pull it off and it came out as a shout.

Kuro stared at Sam. "Oh yeah, by the way, you'll need to borrow Flash again for the contest."

Sam shushed Kurogasa. "Quiet! Susumu would never let me live it down if—"

"Susumu? You mean your brother? I thought his name was Kin."

"I already explained this to you!" Sam was on a rampage.

Kuro tossed Sam the pokeball. "Here's Flash, he'll be valuable in the contest. He's paired with Flare for the battles." Sam was ready to explode again, but then remembered exactly what was in the pokeball, and how sometimes pokemon could come out on their own.

Sam took two deep breaths and walked slowly back to Susumu, who was waiting at the counter, having Nurse Joy take his pokeballs. Sam noticed the design. "Susumu, those are some WEIRD pokeballs!"

Susumu nodded. "Hawkins made em for Nurse Joy, and she gave them to me. I don't like the regular pokeballs, you see? These allow the pokemon to see what's going on outside."

Sam deposited his pokeballs, plus Flash, on the same try, and Nurse Joy went to the back room for examinations. Sam turned back to Susumu. "Never thought about it that way. Anyways, I'm cooled down now. And by the way, guess what I found?" Sam tapped his pocket.

Susumu guessed. "Some spare change?"

Sam took out both pokedexes. "Nope. I believe this belongs to you. He tossed one to Susumu, who caught it deftly.

"You know, Nii-San, because we're two feet away from each other, you could have just handed it to me."

"Yeah, but tossing it is cooler."

Susumu shook his head. "You're the same as I remember. Only a half an inch taller than before." Then Susumu changed the subject. "What was the explosion about? And why did that Kuro over there give you his pokeball? And why were you at the Cobalt Department Store buying clothes? And why—" Susumu cut himself off and began to grin from ear to ear.

Sam realized what was going through Susumu's mind and said, "No Susumu, it's not what you think!" Susumu kept grinning. "Susumu, stop thinking that!"

"You're competing in the contest tomorrow."

Sam sighed. "Kuro ran from our campsite out on the trail all the way to the Contest Hall with my PokeCom and signed me up without asking. He ran back and I had no clue until three hours ago that I was signed up."

Susumu's grin got even wider, if that's possible. "I knew it! I knew you would enter a contest some day! And I know your dedication to finishing things is stopping you from withdrawing, so I can compete against you tomorrow!"

Sam started to get angry. "I still hate contests. Don't think this changes anything!"

Susumu shook his head. Whatever you say! I get to be in a contest with my twin~!" Somehow, he managed to make it sound sing-songy and annoying.

At this moment, Nurse Joy returned. "Thank you, you two. Your pokemon are in perfect condition!" Sam peered at the transparent pokeballs.

"Not bad, not bad at all. The Salamaco looks strong!" Sam pointed at a pokeball that held a small, feline pokemon with blue-ish fur and rings at the tips of the ears. There were also two more halo-like rings above its hindquarters, which seemed to disappear and reappear as the creature moved around inside the pokeball. "What's that?"

Susumu said, "That's Lulu, a Mystikat. My pokedex doesn't have any data on it, though. My bet is that it floated over the ocean from Hokkaido, but I'm not sure. I got it from Nurse Joy's nephew as an egg."

Sam nodded. "It looks like those rings could perform some high damage moves when it gets older." Seeing the look on Susumu's face, he added, "Of course, I guess one could call it cute if they wanted to." Susumu was satisfied, and they went to join Kuro on the couch.

Susumu looked at Sam and tapped him on the shoulder, distracting him from the TV. "You're entering a—"

"Don't say it, or I will explode." Sam stiffened, but then loosened back up. "Thank you."

Susumu leaned in close to Sam and whispered in his ear, "Contest."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Sam whirled to face Susumu, but then Kurogasa tapped his shoulder and said, "Remember Flash." Sam instantly cooled off.

Susumu continued, "For the contest, what contest combo will you use for the double contest performance." Every time Susumu said the word contest, he enunciated it very clearly and dragged it out, driving Sam crazy. Seeing Sam's expression, Susumu laughed. "Just like back home, isn't it?"

Sam took two deep breaths, and replied, "Yes it is like two weeks ago, and no I haven't thought of a double whatever it is."

"Appeal."

"WHATEVER!"

Susumu patted Sam's shoulder. "You need an appeal. C'mon, let me help you think of one!" Susumu stood up, walked to the front door, and motioned for Sam to follow.

Sam got up slowly and with a groan, and followed his brother.

Out back, on the Pokemon Center Battlefield, there were two trainers facing off against one, and Sam was forced to watch his brother instead of the battle. It was pure torture. "Ok," said Susumu, "Show me the pokemon you're using for appeals." Sam was too distracted by the one player's Golem taking multiple hits from the other trainers' Stallet and Whicus. Sam could never understand what was so powerful about Whicus… "NII-SAN! FOCUS!"

Sam automatically said, "I didn't do it!" Then he remembered that he wasn't being caught stealing the remote so he could watch the Pokemon League On Demand, but rather being coached on how to make a contest appeal by his brother. "Oh, sorry Susumu, it's just if I were him, I would've commanded Golem to use Rollout while Stallet was using Scratch, to maximize damage… What were you saying about the contest?"

"What pokemon are you using for appeals?"

"Oh, sorry, here they are. Shuriken, Redwing, let's go!" Sam pulled out the two pokeballs as he said this and threw them in the air. While he waited for them to open and release the pokemon inside, Sam stole a quick peek to see that the Golem had knocked out the Whicus and was now focusing on the Stallet.

Susumu was inspecting them, but Sam barely registered it. "Ok Nii-San, these are some good pokemon… NII-SAN!"

Sam was once again interrupted from watching the battle. "Sorry, thank you. So, any ideas?"

Susumu shook his head. "Nope. But you might say that Shuriken here has a healthy looking gloss. It really looks beautiful…" Susumu was entranced for a few moments, but then shook his head to regain his sense of reality. "Does Shuriken have any moves that could be helpful?"

Sam nodded. "Kuro actually TAUGHT him a contest appeal without my permission, but it was only for one pokemon. We need to somehow incorporate Redwing."

Susumu nodded. "Alright, let's see it!"

Sam was watching the battle again, and Golem was about to fall. "See what?"

"THE CONTEST MOVE!"

Sam looked back over at his brother, who was steaming. "Whoa, relax, ok? Sure. Shuriken, use Water Gun and Ice Beam at the same time." Shuriken began to spin around and around, letting out a water gun that spiraled up and out, like a whirlpool. Then, Shuriken started to use Ice Beam without stopping, freezing the swirling Water Gun.

Susumu stared in awe. "Whoa, Nii-San?"

Sam was barely paying attention. "What?"

"That… that's really beautiful!"

"Yeah, so?" 

Susumu exploded. "SO? YOU INVENT AN AMAZING CONTEST MOVE, AND ALL YOU CAN CARE ABOUT IS WATCHING A BATTLE?"

Sam turned back to his brother, unaccustomed to seeing him angry. Usually he was the angry one. "Ok, Susumu, just relax, ok? Relax. Remember what you always tell me?"

Susumu all of a sudden began to settle down. He stopped fuming, and said, "Sorry, I needed to blow off some steam. That is an amazing contest move!"

Sam nodded. "Right, but how would I make Redwing a part of it?"

Susumu was still staring at the ice swirl. "What?"

Sam nodded to Shuriken, who was still under the ice whirlpool , and Shuriken moved, letting the whirlpool fall, shattering it into a million pieces. Susumu turned back to Sam. "Right, well, Redwing… Redwing, what moves do you know?"

Sam answered for Redwing. "She knows Wing Attack, Peck, and Growl."

Susumu nodded and thought for a while. "Ok!" He said, after a little bit. "Shuriken could make the ice whirlpool, and then Redwing could slice it up with Wing Attack to make sparkles."

Sam nodded. "Whatever you say. Let's watch the battle now." But the battle was over, and the filed was empty. Sam was sad, but then, seeing the empty field, he was given an idea. "Hey Susumu?"

"Yeah, Nii-San?"

"What would you say to a three on three battle?"

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**When this pokemon uses Hyper Beam, nothing survives its powerful impact.**_


	18. Chapter 18

**_WHO'S THAT POKEMON?_**

**_It's… Gyarados! This time, Two people got it right: HokkaidoMaster and Alternate Lopunnu. Congrats to both! And now, the long-awaited battle of the brothers!_**

Sam and Susumu were standing on opposite sides of the battlefield, after Susumu had replied with an enthusiastic, "Yes!" to Sam's offer.

Sam pulled out his first pokeball, and Susumu drew his. "Ready?" Asked Sam.

Susumu nodded. "Ready, Nii-San!"

At this moment, Kurogasa walked around back from the front of the center. "Hey guys," He said. "Just thought I'd check on how the contest training is coming. Looks like a battle, huh?"

Susumu nodded. "That's right, Kuro-chan!"

Sam groaned inwardly. Why did his brother do that, adding "chan" to the end of people's names like that? He found it very embarrassing, not that Susumu would realize that. He said, "Kuro, you can ref if you want."

Kuro ran to the center of the field. "Alright! You guys got rules?"

"We're good," said Sam.

"Ok. No substitutions allowed! Let the battle begin!"

Susumu threw his pokeball, just as Sam threw his. "Go, De-chan!"

"Redwing, let's battle!" The Cardiby and the Cunnister both took the field, and Sam took the moment to scan De-chan with his pokedex, while Susumu scanned Redwing.

_"Cunnister, the Cunning Hamster Pokemon. Cunnister is smarter than its cousin, Rattata. Cunnister steals by gnawing the straps off backpacks and dining on the fresh food inside." _

__Sam smiled, and the two put away their pokedexes. Sam pulled out a quarter, and tossed it in the air. "I got heads!"

Susumu smiled. "Then I got tails!" Sam checked the coin when it landed in his palm, and was disappointed to see a Cardijet winking at him. "Ok Bro, you get the first move."

Susumu pumped a fist. "I've been waiting for this! De-chan, use Super Fang!" Suusmu's Cunnister, named "De-Chan," raced at Redwing, its front teeth beginning to glow.

"Redwing, fly up so that it can't hit you, then fly in with a Wing Attack!" Redwing flew up high, but De-Chan, to Sam's surprise, could jump like a Spoink. De-Chan almost seemed to fly, and was able to hit Redwing and chomp down on her leg. Redwing cried out in pain. And began to slowly sink down back to the ground.

"Great job, De-Chan! Follow it up by scratching that bird in the face!"

Sam wasn't going to go down that easily. "Redwing, put that training to use! Peck to knock that rodent off of you, and use Wing Attack to plow it into the ground!" De-Chan threw a clawed arm/leg up to scratch Redwing away, but the claw was met with an equally sharp beak. Redwing glared at De-Chan, and jabbed the beak into De-Chan's face, narrowly missing the eyes, and De-Chan relinquished its grip and began to fall. Redwing's wings began to glow a bright white and she chased the falling Cunnister until she hit De-Chan right on the neck, and pulled up two feet from the ground, leaving De-Can to slam down and leave a large depression in the ground. Amazingly, the little pokemon stood back up and bared its teeth at Redwing, who began to circle around for another hit.

"De-Chan, use Quick Attack!"

Sam threw out a hand. "Redwing, wait until the last second and then dodge!" Redwing began to hover and waited as the orange pokemon rocketed towards her, streaks of light coming from behind. Redwing began to move to the side, but the Cunning Hamster was able to somehow slightly change angles in mid jump, hitting Redwing in the stomach. Redwing fell out of the air and landed in the same depression that De-Chan had made earlier. "Come on Redwing, you can do it! Please get up!" Redwing struggled against fatigue.

Susumu threw out his hand. "De-Chan, finish this with another Super Fang!" De-Chan's front teeth once again began to glow, and it raced at Redwing.

Sam was almost ready to give up. "Please Redwing! Come on!" Redwing stood up and jumped a few feet into the air, but not high enough to evade De-Chan. Redwing was slammed straight back into the ground, knocked out.

Kurogasa looked at Redwing and said, "Redwing is unable to battle! The round goes to Susumu!"

Sam held out his pokeball. "Redwing, return!" He looked at the pokeball, now containing the fainted Cardiby. "Redwing, you battled your hardest. Take a good rest." Sam switched pokeballs and a fire glinted in his eyes. "Hey Bro, you're pretty good, but I'm not gonna loose! Flare, let's battle!" Sam threw the pokeball, and his faithful starter appeared, ready to fight. "Flare, start with Ember!" Flare opened its mouth and fired a heavy stream of fireballs at the hamster, which barely escaped the stream, even with the high-speed stat that Sam knew it must have.

Susumu looked stunned. "Wow Sam! That must be the Poochember from Willow's Lab, right?"

"You bet! Flare, Ember again!" Without a pause, Flare opened its mouth and an even thicker stream of fireballs at De-Chan, this time making contact. De-Chan was out cold before it hit the ground.

"De-Chan is unable to battle! The round goes to Flare!"

Susumu was shocked. He returned De-Chan and said, "You did good, De-Chan. You were able to give me a slight edge in the battle. Now, Go! Kaze-Chan!" Susumu threw a second pokeball, and threw it. Because Sam had grown up with Susumu, he knew that Kaze roughly translated from Japanese to "wind." He could only assume that whatever pokemon it was had flying type moves.

And indeed, out of the pokeball came a Solwing, which arced its back and spread its green-feathered wings gracefully, the sunlight catching the yellow jewel on its forehead. Susumu grinned. "How do you like my starter pokemon, Nii-San?" Flare and Kaze locked eyes and Sam could tell that they used to have all sorts of practice battles back at the lab. Now, it was real.

"Flare, use Quick Attack!"

"You use Quick Attack as well, Kaze-Chan!" The two took off with streaks of light behind them. They met in the center of the field and slammed against each other, bouncing off, and landing back where they started.

"Flare use Ember!"

"You use Razor Leaf, Kaze-Chan!" Flare let loose his most powerful Ember ever, and Kaze began to flap its wings and many sharp leaves began to fly out and combat the fireballs. The fire won out, but each fireball was fizzled out when the leaf was burned, and neither attack hit its target. Then, Kaze's stream of leaves began to ebb, and the Embers flowed through, hitting Kaze Square in the chest.

After Flare stopped blowing fireballs, Susumu shouted, "Kaze-Chan! Use Synthesis!" Kaze closed its eyes and began to glow a soft shade of green.

Sam groaned. "You've GOT to be kidding me! Only use that move when your enemy is down, not when you need to! Flare, use Quick Attack again!"

What Sam had failed to account for is the ninety-two degree hot, humid, Sunny weather, which reduced the time needed for Kaze to recharge to almost nothing. By the time Flare shot off towards Kaze, Susumu was already ordering a Scratch attack. Flare was knocked back, landing face first. Susumu laughed. "Remember, Nii-San, battles aren't about pure strength or speed, they're also about strategy! Kaze-Chan, Quick Attack!" Kaze flew as fast as she could.

"Flare, close range Ember!" Kaze began to screech to a halt and fly upwards, but Flare had already begun to shoot the fireballs out of its mouth, and the longer the attack held, the thicker the fireballs became, and soon they were barely able to be distinguished from the fireballs around it. Sam then got an idea. "Flare, stop the Ember!" Flare stopped, releasing Kaze from the powerful beam of embers. "Now use Quick Attack while Kaze is down!" Flare did so, and Kaze was down for the count… or so they thought.

"Kaze is un—"

"WAIT!" Susumu screeched. Kaze was enveloped in a green aura, and stood up, apparently forgetting all damage.

Sam's teeth clenched. "I activated Kaze's Overgrow… This is gonna be tough. Flare, use Ember once more!"

"Kaze-Chan, use Razor Leaf again!" Kaze screeched savagely and sent out tons of sharp leaves at Flare, and they easily outnumbered the fireballs, and Flare was knocked down again.

Kuro looked at Flare. "Flare is—"

"WAIT!" Sam shouted.

Kuro sighed and shook his head. "Everybody's a critic…" 

Flare was standing back up, a red aura surrounding him. Blaze had been activated, and Flare was ready to lay some serious smack down on whoever was in the way. Sam pumped a fist. "Yeah! Time to use Ember!"

Flare howled out and let loose the gigantic fireballs again.

"Kaze-Chan! Use Quick Attack!" Kaze flew up out of the way of the devastating attack, and flew towards Flare at mach speed.

Flare looked at Kaze without stopping the Ember attack, hitting her straight on. Amazingly, Kaze stood back up, but was just one hit away from falling, and Flare was equally tired from using Ember.

"FLARE!"

"KAZE-CHAN!"

"EMBER!"

"RAZOR LEAF!" The two fired their attacks again, and they met in the middle of the field. The two struggled back and forth, and soon, Sam saw that the fireballs were growing large again. But instead of stopping, the fireballs merged into a single continuous stream of fire coming from Flare's mouth. After watching this, Sam realized Flare had learned Flamethrower. "Yes! Way to go, Flare! You learned Flamethrower! This is gonna be sweet!" The giant line of fire tore straight through the leaves and hit Kaze, knocking her out.

Kuro raised a hand. "Are you sure Kaze is unable to battle?" Susumu nodded. "Then the round goes to Flare!"

Susumu returned Kaze and mumbled some words of praise. Then he said to Sam, "Nice job, Nii-San, but you'll never get past my third pokemon! GO—" Susumu was about to throw his pokeball when one on his belt popped open by itself. The pokemon that Sam saw forming was the Salamaco that Susumu had accidently caught. Susumu was angry. "No, not you, Dra-Chan!" Susumu held out the pokeball, but Kuro stopped him.

He said, Susumu. "Remember, if you return your pokemon, the round goes to Sam and he'll win the battle. Ready to fight?" Susumu reluctantly nodded.

Sam didn't wait for Susumu to brace himself. "Flare, Flamethrower!"

Susumu threw a hand out. "Dra-Chan, dodge it!" The dragon type pokemon jumped above the flamethrower and instantly changed colors from blue-ish gray to deep red with orange streaks. Susumu backed up. "What just happened?"

Sam crossed his arms and looked down thoughtfully. _Susumu doesn't realize that Dra-Chan has the ability Forecast. The heat from the Flamethrower must have raised the temperature enough to activate it. Now, Dra-Chan is a Dragon/fire type. Given the sunny weather, he should stay that way. _Then, out loud, he said, "Flare, use Quick Attack!"

What _Sam_ had forgotten was that Flare was running on borrowed energy from Blaze, and with one flick of the tail towards Flare, Dra-Chan knocked him out. "Flare is unable to battle! The round goes to Draco!"

Susumu turned to Kuro. "His name is Dra –Chan!"

"Draco sounds cooler!" argued Kuro. "Geez, I miss the days in Johto, when it was just me and Cyndaquil…"

Sam threw his third pokeball after a quick thank you to Flare. "Shuriken, let's battle!" the star shaped pokemon appeared with a loud cry and a twirl. Sam felt embarrassed because of the twirl, but when he looked at Susumu, the long haired twin had a look of admiration in his eyes. Sam's fists tightened. "Shuriken, start this off with Water Gun!"

"Dra-Chan, dodge it!" Dra-Chan jumped up above the Water Gun.

"Shuriken, use Ice Beam and freeze him!" With deadly accuracy, Shuriken launched an Ice Beam straight towards Dra-Chan, or rather, where Dra-Chan had been a few seconds ago. The Dragon type ran as fast and straight towards and slammed Shuriken into the ground. The impact threw a cloud of dust in the air and it enveloped Dra-Chan, and the dragon only coughed once before its scales changed to a sandy brown color. The ground type.

Sam was happy, as his ice moves would be quadruple effective. "Shuriken, use Ice Beam again!" Dra-Chan dodged the freezing beam again and ran at Shuriken, slamming him with his tail at full force. Shuriken flew back again and landed face down.

Sam realized that two of Dra-Chan's moves were Tackle and Body Slam, and stored the knowledge in his brain. "Shuriken, use Water Gun again!" Shuriken hopped to the side and squirted a beam of water at Dra-Chan, but Dra-Chan threw its head down, breaking up the water into droplets of rain. As the rain landed on him, his scales changed once again to a combination of sky blue and a deeper blue. "Ice Beam!" Shuriken began to fire rapid succession of Ice Beams and Water Guns, and Dra-Chan dodged them all. When Shuriken paused to take a breath, Dra-Chan, without waiting for orders from Susumu, ran at Shuriken again, slamming his tail at the Star Piece Pokemon. Shuriken landed on the ground, the red light in the center of his chest blinking, signifying a knockout.

Kuro raised his hand. "Shuriken is unable to battle! The round goes to Draco, and the winner is Susumu!"

Sam returned Shuriken and looked at Dra-Chan, or as Kuro called him, Draco, with admiration. He couldn't believe that that little pokemon that was happily blowing smoke rings had just defeated his Staryu without taking a single hit. And the move set, Body Slam, Tackle, and Headbutt, was simply amazing… Why couldn't Shuriken be more like that? Then, Draco disappeared, and Sam refocused on his brother, who was putting the transparent pokeball back in his pocket.

Sam walked up to his twin. "You battled with a lot of power… And style," he added as an afterthought. "Dra-Chan was extremely powerful, and quick, too. I actually envy you for catching him first."

Susumu shook his head. "I actually caught him on accident, remember? One of my pokeballs was hanging loose. I envy you for catching Shuri-Chan."

Sam was screaming inside, but on the outside, he kept a pleasant smile. _WHY DO YOU ADD "CHAN" TO THE END OF PEOPLE'S NAMES? _Out loud, he said, "Thanks!"

Susumu said, "Well, I'm going to head inside and heal up, and get a good night sleep before the contest tomorrow. You should do the same, Nii-San."

Sam nodded. "I will."

After Susumu had gone inside, Kuro walked up next to Sam. "How come whenever he's around, I become a background character?"

Sam turned to him. "Because we're family."

Kurogasa nodded. "Ok, just wanted to know why." The pair went inside.

Once inside, Sam walked up to the counter and asked Nurse Joy to heal his pokemon. "Also, could we please have two rooms for the night?"

Nurse Joy nodded and went to join Chansey in the back room. Sam went to find Kuro, and found him at the video phones, talking to someone. Kuro glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, I gotta go. I'll talk to you in the morning." Kuro clicked the monitor off, and Sam was left wondering whom he was talking to.

"Hey Kuro, we got the rooms. Come on, we'll get our pokemon in the morning, and we'll go to the… You know."

Kuro nodded. "Ok. You got two rooms, right?"

"Yep. It's getting late; we should get some sleep." 

"It's only eight o' clock! And it's summer time, so it won't be dark out for another hour or so. I'm gonna stay up."

Sam shrugged and left Kuro in the lobby to go upstairs. He yawned loudly and used the card key that Nurse Joy had given him to slip inside Room 274 and he sat down on the bed and the last though he had before falling asleep was, _The Cobalt Contest is Tomorrow._

**_WHO'S THAT POKEMON?_**

**_This pokemon loves to eat Armarock as delicacies, but because this pokemon lives in the forest, it very rarely gets to eat Armarock._**


	19. Chapter 19

**_WHO'S THAT POKEMON?_**

**_It's… Robbig! Congrats to HokkaidoMaster, who got it right again!_**

Sam was woken up by a pillow to the face. "Wake up!" He heard in the distance. "Wake up!" The voice was clearer now, and Sam realized that it was Kurogasa.

Sam sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Relax, I'm up."

He saw Kuro glaring at him. "Good, because the Contest starts in twenty minutes, and you're the seventh up to perform!"

Sam was completely awake. "What? Why didn't you wake me earlier?"

"Two reasons. One, I was on the phone with a friend, and two, I've been trying for twenty minutes!"

Sam got out of bed and began to put on his normal clothes. He also found in the closet his contest clothes and put them in his backpack. "Alright, I'm ready. Let's go!"

Kurogasa's expression became less furious. "Good. Now hurry up! We're down to fifteen minutes!" Sam was already dressed and at the door.

"I am ready! Come on!" With that, Sam was on his way.

He arrived at the Contest Hall with two minutes to spare, with Kurogasa hot on his heels. "Hi," Sam said, once he reached the entry desk. "My name is Sam Kindle, I'm entry number seven in the contest?"

The lady at the reception desk looked at a computer. "Of course, Mr. Kindle. You're the last one to arrive. And that last name sounds familiar…" Sam rushed through a hallway labeled "Coordinators" and found himself in the waiting area for Coordinators. He looked around for a place to change into his contest clothes and found it quickly. He rushed into a changing room tucked into a back hallway, and after he pulled on his clothes, he went back into the main area, where the contest was just starting. He sat down on a surprisingly comfortable cushion and watched the first contestant on a TV monitor. To his surprise, he almost relaxed a little and watched as the person on the screen used a Chirpdy to create a soothing tune, and a Kirlia to dance along.

Sam was watching more when a hand patted him on the shoulder. "Well, didn't expect to see someone like you back here!"

Sam turned to see Forrest standing over him. Sam got up and shook Forrest's hand. "Hey Forrest! I haven't seen you since our battle! How've you been?"

Forrest smiled. "I've been doing great! I won the Yakua Town Ribbon!"

Sam frowned. "I'm not the biggest fan of contests, but I'm pretty sure that place doesn't exist."

Forrest sighed. "It's off the beaten path. It's really small, so I would understand if it didn't show up on any maps at all. I only found it because I was lost in the woods."

Sam nodded. "I know what it's like to be lost." Sam looked around. "Have you seen Susumu anywhere?"

Forrest nodded, and smiled devilishly for a second, before returning to his normal expression. He answered Sam, "Oh yeah, he's waiting for his turn. He's entry number two, you know. I'm number six."

Sam was curious about the look Forrest had, but he decided not to worry about it. He said, "Well, it sucks to be me, because I have to follow you up. I'm number seven."

Forrest cocked his head. "Someone was in line right behind me to register, but it wasn't you."

Sam's fist tightened. "Kuro…"

Forest leaned in. "What's that?"

"Never mind."

Forest stole a glance at the screen and let out a mirthless peal of laughter. "Hey look, Susumu's on!"

Sam looked up at the screen, and his brother was indeed on the stage. Sam could barely restrain himself at first, but then, Forrest patted his back. "Go on, you can laugh if you want."

And laugh Sam did, for his brother was wearing a DRESS. A white dress with PINK SPARKLES. Not only that, but his hair was tied up in pigtails by pink bows. Now, if Susumu had been a girl, it would have looked amazing, but seeing it on a boy was so comical, Sam could barely draw the breath to utter a sentence. "Oh my Arceus, this is just too funny to be true! I gotta see this!"

He watched as his brother threw two pokeballs, and saying in a shaky voice, "G-Go, Lulu and Ka-Chan!" He threw the pokeballs and they opened with a flurry of flower petals. Sam realized he didn't have seals, but at the moment, he could barely care.

He laughed again and doubled over, making several sheets of seals fall out of his pocket, along a handwritten note from Kurogasa. He read the note. _"Sam, you forgot these. You're welcome." _Sam shook his head and sighed, looking back at the screen. He only lasted two seconds before he burst out laughing again. Susumu was so red-faced; the order he gave was unable to be heard over the monitor. Sam kept laughing as Kaze fired off a Razor Leaf, gently lifting Lulu into the air. Lulu began to glow a soft blue color and floated gently down back through the air, landing on Kaze's back.

The announcer lady remarked on the performance, and Susumu, still red faced, mumbled something else.

Sam finally stopped laughing and watched as Kaze began to speed up, running circles around the whole arena. As Kaze sped up, she became a blur, unable to be tracked by human eyes. With Lulu on her back, the blur was a deep blue, creating what others might interpret as beautiful. Sam couldn't care less about beauty, and wanted to get this over with. The crowd of people cheered extremely loud and even back in the locker room, Sam had to wince a little at the noise. Susumu threw out a hand and Kaze began to travel in smaller and smaller circles, making the ring of light appear brighter and smaller. Even Sam, who had no interest in contests, was entranced, and the light dispersed in a circle of power that flew outwards from Lulu. The pair ended in a striking pose, with Lulu standing on Kaze's head. Susumu bowed to the audience and ran off the field, returning Lulu and Kaze as he did.

Sam suppressed a laugh and turned it into a yawn. He turned around and asked, "Forrest, did you do this?"

Forrest grinned and began to chuckle with an evil voice, as he began to put seals on his pokeballs. "What gave you that idea?" With that, Forrest walked off in the direction of the arena, leaving Sam to watch the appeals. Sam truthfully didn't want to watch, so he busied himself with trying to find the perfect combination of seals. He didn't really care, but those people seemed to think that cute was cool, even though Sam didn't share the opinion. After taking a long time agonizing himself over deciding which seals went on which pokeball, he put them on, and stood up.

Sam walked down the passageway to the curtain that hid the arena, and waited for his turn. Three coordinators walked down the passage past him, and as he listened for them to finish the appeal. When each coordinator had finished, they walked back to the waiting room, obviously pleased.

Soon, it was Forrest's turn. He glanced at Sam. "Wish me luck!"

Forrest continued onwards, and Sam muttered, "You don't need it. I need luck." After a while, Forrest came back, gave Sam thumbs up, and continued back to the waiting room. Sam pulled out the pokeball with the hearts and the one with the clouds, and got ready to throw, as the announcer called his name. The curtain pulled back, and Sam ran out, shouting, "Alright, Redwing and Shuriken, Let's go!" Sam threw the pokeballs, and they exploded into a white cloud, with hearts seemingly being formed out of the cloud and floating off into the audience, where people tried to catch them. The cloud finally disappeared, and the Redwing was perched on top of Shuriken, wings outstretched.

"Shuriken, start it off with Water Gun!" Shuriken began to twirl, and Redwing lifted off, spiraling straight up. The Water Gun spiraled up and out around her, and the crowd cheered. Same said, "Now, Shuriken, follow it up with Ice Beam!" Redwing flew out of the way, and Shuriken threw a crackling, freezing ray of energy up the length of the Water Gun, freezing it into the spiraling whirlpool of ice. The crowd cheered again, and this time, he listened to the announcer's voice.

"Amazing! That Staryu has created a sparkling swirl of ice that beautifully glistens!"

Sam threw out an arm. "Now, Redwing, use Wing Attack on the whirlpool!" Redwing's wings both began to glow, and the ice was quickly cut up into tiny fragments, and the fragments into beautiful sparkles. Sam blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, Redwing was carrying Shuriken into the air, where he used Rapid Spin to send the sparkles in waves towards the audience. Sam was startled. "I didn't teach them that!" Nevertheless, it achieved the desired effect, and the crowd erupted into cheers. Sam looked around, taking it all in. He thought to himself, "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe there _is _something to this coordinator business that I missed before. Maybe Susumu isn't a fool for becoming one."

* * *

"You were great!" Sam was bombarded with compliments as soon as he walked into the waiting area. He was being shaken so hard, he couldn't see who it was that was shaking him. Sam lifted his arms, and after about a minute or so of being shaken senseless, he was able to grab onto his admirer's shoulders and steady himself.

Sam was looking at Susumu, who was still wearing the silly dress. "Hey, Susumu. How come I didn't see you before my appeal?"

Susumu shifted. "I was arguing with an old rival of mine. He's a complete jerk."

Sam had a momentary flashback to the Crystalline contest. "You mean that guy who you were chained to before?"

Susumu nodded. "Yep. We would still be arguing if Forrest hadn't told me you were up. I only barely got there in time to watch."

Sam nodded in understanding. "Well, your appeal was fantastic. But that move, Lulu used … what does it do?"

"Well, Nii-San, it looks cute, makes a striking appearance, and, in battle… I don't know."

Sam nodded again. "That's cool. So, um… What was up with the dress?" Sam pointed to the dress he was wearing and almost snickered, but then stopped himself.

Susumu blushed. "I… don't want to talk about that. Let's just say…Forrest doesn't like it when Alexander and I fight."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "That's… weird. So… Now we just wait for the appeals to be over?"

Susumu nodded. "That's right, Nii-San. Now we wait. But, Alexander hasn't gone. If you thought I looked ridiculous, wait until you see him!"

Sam and Susumu laughed freely.

They watched the screen intently when they sat down in front of the screen, but Alexander didn't show his face. Sam was growing impatient. "Where is he?"

"He's appeal number thirty two, and this is appeal twenty nine, Nii-San!"

Sam sighed and resigned himself to watch the three appeals.

It was worth it.

When Alexander came on stage, Sam was still shocked, despite the fact that he was expecting it. He was wearing a green dress that went down to his knees. Like Susumu, his dress had sparkles, colored blue. As if THAT weren't enough, he had long blue ribbons that extended out of his hair that went down to his elbows. The twins took one look, turned to each other, and burst out laughing. Susumu had been right—Sam was laughing twice as hard as he had when he had seen Susumu.

"OH MY ARCEUS, HOW DID FORREST COME UP WITH THIS?"

Susumu shifted, and stopped laughing. "Well, Forrest had caught Alexander insulting my outfit, and I insulted his back. Forrest walked in and said, 'If you hate your outfits so much, I can change them for you.'" Sam just laughed even harder.

"HOLY CRAP!" Sam saw Susumu wince at his langue, but then Susumu looked back at the screen and started laughing once more. Sam laughed until he was out of breath, and then patted his brother on the back. "You know, I never thought I could find contests interesting, but you, my brother, have just made my day!" Susumu ran out of breath too.

"Well, I guess we should at least watch. I'd like to know what I'm up against."

Sam sighed. "Whatever." Then he laughed some more and looked at the screen, seeing that the man in a dress had brought a Tumvine and a Freeda to the contest.

Alexander, unlike Susumu, didn't allow the dress to impede his confidence. He threw up a gloved hand and authorotively shouted, "Whicus, awe the crowd with your Bullet Seed!" Sam laughed, because the words just sounded so feminine. The Whicus fired a Bullet Seed straight up in the air. "Now, Freeda, show them your awe-inspiring power! Ice Beam!" The same time that the Freeda launched an ice beam, freezing the Bullet Seed, Sam gasped for air, he was laughing so hard.

Susumu had long since stopped laughing, and patted Sam on the back. "It's funny, Sam, I give you that, but just stop. My ears are bleeding."

Sam chuckled one last time. "Sorry Susumu, it's just… He sounds so funny!"

"Now, let that sparkle shine, Whicus! Vine Whip!" Sam's eye bulged out in an effort to not laugh. The Whicus threw out two vines and they punched right through the ice, making a cascade of green and white sparkles in he air. Alexander and his pokemon posed, and after a few words from the judges table, he returned them, walking off stage.

Sam's laugher stopped coming forth, and he relaxed. "Wow… I never knew Forrest was so evil! I'm proud of him!"

Susumu shook his head. "That was a good appeal…"

Sam patted his brother on the back. "Hey, don't worry about the bad times or the doubt. Focus on the fact that your rival was seen WEARING A DRESS!"

Susumu chuckled and lifted his face. Sam decided to try to sneak a quick nap while his brother watched the rest of the appeals. Sam nodded off, and before he knew it, Susumu was nudging him awake. "Sam, the judges have chosen the eight coordinators! Look!"

The first face on the screen was Forrest, no surprise there. The second face was Alexander. Sam shook his head in wonder, how a MAN who shamelessly wears a dress could be ranked second on the scoreboard. The third, fourth, and fifth faces were unfamiliar to Sam, but the sixth was Susumu. Sam felt his brother relax beside him, but Sam didn't care. He was in this contest now, and he was in it until the end. The seventh face wasn't Sam. The final face, that beat the rest, who made it to the next round… Was SAM.

**_Yeah, you probably saw it coming from a mile away. You knew that both brothers would make it. It's just the way I tell it that makes it interesting. Next up is the battle round! BTW, what did you think of Forrest's little trick? Tell me in your reviews!_**

**_WHO'S THAT POKEMON?_**

**_This pokemon lost ability to walk on land after evolution. It is much less savage than its appearance suggests._**


	20. Chapter 20

_**I'm REALLY sorry for not updating. I've been up to my neck in school, and I don't really have much time to write. But I'm updating now, so be happy! But now, it's time for…**_

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**It's… Salamega! Nobody got it right this time around, but I guess Hokkaido Master's answer could have been half-acceptable, seeing as Flipseal looses the ability to walk on land after evolution, but Dolphice doesn't look fierce at all. **_

Sam couldn't believe it. He, a first-contest nobody who didn't care about winning, didn't WANT to win, didn't have any experience at all, had beat out around thirty five other coordinators, and made it to what he did best: battling.

Sam and Susumu watched as the eight cards all flipped over, spread around, formed a sideways tournament bracket, and the cards flipped over again, revealing who would be battling whom in the first round. Susumu had one of the few guys that Sam didn't know, and Sam was battling Forrest. Sam muttered, "Time for our rematch, Forrest." He caught Forrest's eye from across the room, and they acknowledged each other. Sam turned to say something to Susumu, but his twin was gone, as he was battle number one. Sam turned back to the screen.

Susumu and his opponent, a guy with long blond hair and a fierce expression, both were walking onto their respective sides of the field. Susumu was of course, still wearing the dress, but he didn't seem as tense as before. The announcer shouted something, and a five-minute clock appeared at the bottom of the screen, which immediately began counting down. Susumu pulled out two pokeballs and threw them. "Nishikihebi, Denkosekka, come on out!" The pokeballs opened in a flurry of stars and hearts, and the two pokemon appeared. A sudden feeling of nostalgia swept through Sam upon seeing their father's Onix.

"Alright," said the other person, "Flipseal, Monpoi, win the battle!" Susumu's opponent also threw two pokeballs, and the aforementioned pokemon came out, ready to combat Sam's brother.

Susumu ordered the first attack. "Nishikihebi, use Screech!" The Onix, who Sam was used to calling Rocky, opened its mouth and let loose an ear-piercing noise that made everyone in the audience winced a little. Sam was used to the noise, because back when he and Susumu were children, his dad would order Rocky to use screech to stop Sam from shouting at Susumu about battling.

"Monpoi, ignore the noise and use Fury Swipes on the Cunnister!" The Monpoi raced forward, taking its hands away from its ears, but the force of the sound blew it backwards. On the large mega-tron, points went down. Sam had never understood the points system, but he understood that it had to do with evasion, speed, and certain traits that each attack had.

Susumu shouted, "De-Chan, use Quick Attack on Monpoi!" De-Chan raced towards Monpoi, a white streak of light trailing behind. De-Chan slammed into the Monpoi, and Monpoi fell. The blond-haired guy's points dropped severely.

"Flipseal, Icy Wind on the Cunnister!" The Flipseal opened its mouth and blew a stream of cold air and snow at De-Chan, who evaded it with a small twirl. The blond-haired kid's points went down once more.

Sam smiled. "If I know my brother," he said to nobody in particular, "then he's going to finish this up very soon."

And Sam was right. Susumu shouted, "Nishikihebi, use Rock Throw and finish this!"

Sam would never think of the Onix he knew as a child by Susumu's Japanese nickname, but would always call him Rocky. Just as _Rocky _slammed his tail into the ground, making several large rocks pop up, a buzzer rang out, and someone shouted, "Time!" Rocky paused in mid-attack, and everyone looked at the mega-tron o see the results. "The winners of the first battle are Cunnister and Onix!" Susumu cried out in joy and bowed politely before recalling Rocky and De-Chan and walking off-stage.

Sam smiled and applauded silently for his brother, and listened for the next battle. "Next up will be Sam Kindle and Forrest Wilder."

Sam stood up and walked towards the arena. "Hm, so his last name is Wilder. Didn't know that." Any other thoughts were impossible, for at that moment, Sam emerged in one of two spotlights on the battlefield, the other on Forrest, who was smiling at Sam from the other side of the field.

"Five minutes on the clock… The the battle begin!"

Sam drew two pokeballs. "Flare, Flash; Let's Battle!"

Sam threw the pokeballs in the air, just as Forrest drew his pokeballs and shouted, "Assassigrass, Thundape, let's hit it!" All four pokeballs opened simultaneously, and three out of four pokemon cried out. But the Assassigrass remained quiet; it's small, yellow eyes flickering back and forth.

Sam observed the pokemon. It looked kinda like a Roserade, but bigger, about five and a half feet tall. A dark green band of color ran around its slightly humanoid face, like a bandit's mask. A leaf sprouted from the back of its neck and draped over the top of its head, like a hat (think the hat Riley wore in that Iron Island DP episode). Its thin body was colored a light green, almost gray color, perfect for blending in with a forest environment, but in the contest arena, it was clearly visible. Its arms resembled a human, but they were also green colored, and had blades of leaves sprouting from everywhere on its arm, slanting upwards towards its head. It had similar spikes on its legs, which were the same color as the arms. A red band of color ran around its neck, much like the yellow band on a Roserade. Its clawed hands grasped a long, wooden staff, and its similar legs shifted uncomfortably.

Sam pulled out his pokedex. _"Assassigrass, the Deadly Plant Pokemon. Assassigrass live high in trees, watching the world below. If a pokemon approaches it in need of a favor, Assassigrass will take care of it."_

"Kinda like an assassin, huh?" mused Sam. "I like it." Sam returned his attention to the whole field. "Now it's time for our rematch, Forrest! Flare, use Flamethrower; and Flash, use Thundershock!"

Forrest smiled. "Assassigrass, counter Thundershock with Razor Leaf, and Thundape, respond with a Thundershock of your own!"

The four attacks met in the center of the field, and exploded violently. As the smoke cleared, Forrest smiled. "Looks like Flash got stronger, huh? Well, that's to be expected after evolution. But let's not waste time! Assassigrass, use Leaf Blade! Thundape, use Thunder Punch!"

Sam hissed in annoyance. He hated Thunder Punch. It had nearly one-hit-K-O'ed Flash last time the pair had battled. "Flare, Quick Attack on Thundape! Get low, and hit it from beneath! Flash, you use Quick Attack as well on Assassigrass!" Sam's pokemon shot out of the gate so fast, they left a ghostly apparition of themselves behind for a moment. Although Flash, with his superior speed and agility, landed a hit on Assassigrass, Thundape outmaneuvered Flare, and a direct hit ensued. Flare flew backwards, landing on his back.

As Flare landed, the battle timer struck three minutes.

Sam cried out at the same time as Flare. "Flare, are you alright?" The little dog stood up shakily and growled. "Great! Use Flamethrower on Assassigrass! Flash, use Scratch on Assassigrass to keep it busy!"

As Flare inhaled, Flash started raking its claws over Assassigrass's face again and again, and Forrest was forced to act. "Thundape, use Close Combat on Flare, or Assassigrass is done for!" Thundape ran so fast, one would've thought it was a Quick Attack.

Flash kept scratching Assassigrass's face, and just as Flare was about to exhale deadly stream of fire, Thundape kicked his mouth shut, forcing the flames to go inwards and sear Flare's throat. Flare would've cried out again, but Thundape punched Flare repeatedly in the gut, forcing the air out of its lungs. After the deadly barrage stopped, Flare fell, defeated.

But also, while Flare was receiving a beat down, an almost as deadly fate was being dealt to Assassigrass on the other side of the field. A determined Flash had been living up to his name and dealing out more scratches per second than one could think possible. He dropped from Assassigrass's face, revealing that it was an almost unrecognizable mess of criss-crossing lines and even a few cuts. Assassigrass's eyes were nothing more than spirals.

As Flare and Assassigrass fell, the battle clock struck one.

And only a Monkelectric and a Thundape remained.

Forrest called out, "Sam, I must admit, you've really gotten better since our last battle!"

Sam replied, "So have you, Forrest. I can see how you earned your Yakua Town ribbon!"

Forrest smiled devilishly. "This is our rematch, Sam. This is your chance to bring the pain that was caused to Flash last time. Ready?"

Sam smiled. "Ready! Flash, use Thundershock!"

"Thundape, Discharge!" The attacks were fired at the same time, and met in the center of the field.

Sam followed up. "Flash, follow up with Scratch!"

"Thundape, you use Close Combat!"

once again, the two pokemon met in the center of the field, with a flailing of fists, feet, and sharp fingernails. The two pokemon rolled around, each trying to gain dominance over the other. Then, Sam, unable to wait any longer, shouted, "Flash, use Thundershock!"

And Flash let loose a storm of electricity, illuminating the whole arena. When the light died down, amazingly, Thundape had managed to stand up. Both pokemon were breathing heavily, but Thundape more than Flash.

And the clock struck zero.

"Time!" Sam heard someone shout. He had completely forgotten he was in a contest, and that there was a time limit. He and Forrest looked up at the Mega-Tron, to see who had won.

"And the winner of this battle, by only a small amount of points, is…"

_**CLIFFHANGER!**_

_**You must all hate me by now.**_

_**Once again, I want to thank you for patiently waiting for this update. Like I said, I've been up to here with schoolwork, and Updates, while not months in between, will be very sparse. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning you guys, but just as a heads up.**_

_**So, it's been a long time, but It feels great to type these words again…**_

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON?**_

_**This pokemon can "melt" into water, due to its molecules having a similar makeup to water.**_

_**It's kinda easy, but remember, I've been out of it for a while.**_


	21. Chapter 21

_**Ok! Welcome back to another installment of Neo Evolution: Yinji! There's no long author's not today, just reading!**_

_**WHO'S THST POKEMON? It's… Vaporeon! Yeah, everyone who guessed got it right. ONLY CHARMANDER HERO AND HOKKAIDOMASTER GOT IT RIGHT. Come on people, please guess?**_

"And the winner of this battle, by only a small amount of points is… Sam!" Sam was speechless. He turned to look at Forrest, who just smiled, nodded, and walked off the field. Sam was speechless. He had thought that he would loose. And his reasoning was that he had expected Forrest to bring out his special Thunder Focus Punch, which hadn't shown up in this battle at all. Sam wondered this as he walked back to the common area for coordinators.

"High five, Nii-San!" Sam slapped his brother a high-five, and said,

"Geez, I never knew a contest battle could be so… riveting."

Susumu nodded. "Of course, that's one of the reasons I became a coordinator." Susumu winked at Sam, and continued. "I also think it's great that you beat Forrest. I mean, a Monkelectric against a Thundape? The greatest win of the contest! Even the finals won't be as good!"

A voice rang forth. "Well, the finals are bound to be exciting since _I'll _be competing in them. I won't be loosing to either of you." Susumu stiffened and turned to face the person: Alexander. He attempted to speak, but all that came out was a weak stutter. Alexander continued. "Of course, if by some chance our paths don't cross until the finals—Oh look," Alexander pointed to the steadily shrinking tournament bracket. "I'm against you in the next round!"

When Susumu failed to reply, Sam came to aid his brother. "You're right, Alexandra. With that dress, how could you fail to loose?"

Alex's face turned tomato red, and he replied, "I-I don't need to b-be u-upstaged by some f-first contest l-l-loser!"

Sam glared at Alexander. "You don't know who you're messing with. The Topaz Twins never fail!" As Alexander began to quiver like jelly, Sam turned to Susumu. "Hey bro?"

"Yeah, Nii-San?"

"Kick his ass for me."

So Sam watched as Susumu and Alexander took the field. Alexander, now that he was facing the less-menacing twin, had regained composure. Although both of them were still wearing dresses, which made it seem funny, both of the coordinators looked fierce and competitive. Mary-Ann (Susumu had convinced Sam to stop calling her "the announcer") shouted, "Ok folks, let's start round two! First in the round are Susumu and Alexander!"

Susumu and Alexander drew their pokeballs, a total of four. "Five minutes on the clock… Begin!" And the timer began the countdown.

Alexander did a little twirl. "Phanpy, Stallet, come out and blow this twit away!"

Susumu threw his pokeballs as well. "De-Chan, Nishikihebi, let's battle!" and so began the fight to remember.

The huge Onix and the tiny Cunnister against the two middle-sized pokemon, Phanpy and Stallet. "Phanpy, use Rollout, Stallet, use Sky Uppercut!" Phanpy began to roll in place, and Stallet's glowing fist came from behind, punching the projectile towards Rocky.

Susumu smiled, and took the offensive. "De-Chan, use Quick Attack! Nishikihebi, use Tackle!" The Cunnister ran forward, a streak of light trailing behind it. De-Chan slammed into the Rollout attack, and, to Sam's surprise, stopped it right in its tracks. The Phanpy uncurled itself in surprise, and De-Chan quickly darted away from the diving Onix; and the Phanpy was crushed. Alexander lost a considerable amount of points, both for Susumu's spectacular dodge, and also for Phanpy being crushed.

Rocky, or as Susumu called him, Nishikihebi, lifted his body off of the poor Phanpy, and it was, surprisingly, fine. It jumped straight back, towards Alexander's side of the field, and Susumu didn't back down. "Nishikihebi, follow up with Screech! De-Chan, jump onto his head!" De-Chan did a graceful back flip and struck a threatening pose at the exact moment that Rocky let out an ear piercing shriek, and the entire arena flinched in distaste. The Onix added more intensity to the Screech, concentrating the noise into a cone of sound; blasting the two foes back and making the audience behind Alexander flinch again. Alexander's points dropped again, and Susumu smiled confidently. As the sound began to abate, Phanpy, without orders from Alexander, used a Rollout attack on Rocky.

Susumu shouted, "Nishikihebi, stand still and take it! De-Chan, ride the energy-release into a quick attack!" So Rocky stood still as Phanpy slammed into it, and the resulting collision had enough power to catapult the Cunnister on Rocky's head into the air, and as De-Chan began to arc down, he angled his projectory and sped towards Stallet, hitting it straight on. Alexander lost more points, but right as he ordered a Sky Uppercut to counter-attack, Rocky uttered an unearthly, wretched sound. This caused Stallet to hesitate, giving De-Chan time to retreat. The cause of Rocky's pain was Phanpy. The attack itself did no damage whatsoever, but Phanpy had lodged itself into a gap between two of the rocks in Rocky's body, causing the rock snake great pain.

Susumu pleaded with Rocky to calm down, but Alexander saw this as an advantage for him, and ordered a Magnet Bomb from Stallet towards De-Chan. Stallet jumped, did an acrobatic twirl, and summoned a large, silver orb and fired it towards De-Chan.

"De-Chan, dodge it!" De-Chan did, but it clipped his foot, tripping him. Susumu lost some points, and retaliated. "De-Chan, use Super Fang!" De-Chan's front teeth began to glow, and he ran at Stallet. Stallet did another acrobatic twirl, landing in Rocky's shadow.

But at this moment, Rocky began to sway and fall. As the long chain of rocks fell, Stallet and Alexander both looked, wide-eyed. Stallet tried to run, but it was too late.

It was a double knockout. Phanpy was freed from the pressure point, and was ready to battle, but Stallet was crushed, and Rocky was in too much pain to carry on. Both sides lost fifty percent of their total points, leaving Susumu with little under a fourth, and Alexander with just a sliver.

"You can't win, Alexander," said Susumu. "Phanpy is stiff from being lodged in Nishikihebi's rocks. De-Chan is still going strong, and I have more points than you!"

Alexander, Sam could tell, was agitated. "No! Phanpy WILL win! Now, Phanpy, let's use—" At this moment, Alexander was cut off by a loud noise, followed by a rumble. The audience began to murmur, followed by another tremor and mass panic. Everyone began to evacuate the stands, and the waiting room was is a rush to escape.

Sam felt his skin go cold, then a warm feeling from under his shirt. He pulled out his necklace, with the two stones attached, and both of them were emitting a soft light. The aquamarine stone's light was a very soft, gentle light, but the dull golden topaz seemed to be flashing more than glowing.

Sam gritted his teeth. "Ocori, what are you trying to tell me?" He had no idea what was going on. As he ran out of the contestant waiting room, he ran into Kurogasa, who was the only one left standing in the lobby, doubled over in pain, clutching his left arm as hard as he could. "Kurogasa!"

Kuro looked up. "Sam, what are you doing out here?"

Sam held up his two pendants. "They're glowing. And," he added, "so is yours of Suicune."

Kurogasa held up his necklace. "Oh yeah, didn't even notice. I was more focused on this." Kuro pointed to his sleeved arm. Sam then realized that throughout the entire time that he had known Kurogasa, he had never seen his bare arms. Kuro ripped back the sleeves to show a jagged circle-like patter on his forearm, flashing bright cobalt and red, in a pattern. The ground began to continuously shake, and the groaning noise began again.

Sam had to shout over the increasing noise. "What is that?"

"It's something I picked up in Johto. Look real closely, and that jagged pattern you see is shaped like a Suicune. It flashes when Suicune is in trouble, but I've never seen red before. Hasn't burnt like this in the past five months!"

Sam heard a giant crack from behind them. He made a brief glance back at the stadium and shouted, "We gotta get out of here!" So the pair ran.

When the pair was a considerable distance from the Cobalt Arena, they looked back to see the building collapsing within a circle of light. The destruction went on for several minutes, but then, after a blinding flash of light, there was a new building there, but it wasn't so much a building as… Ancient ruins.

The stone building occupied nearly a much space as the Cobalt Arena, and was similar is appearance to the stadium as well. Sam felt Kurogasa stiffen as the Suicune mark made one final flash before going dark. The same went for Sam's two stones.

For a few moments, the city was silent. Not a single noise. Not. A single. One. Then all chaos erupted around Kuro and Sam. But the pair stayed still. Absolutely still.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Sam and Kuro were back at the Pokémon Center after the "earthquake," as Yinji Reports, the major news channel for Yinji, called it. "That was not normal!"

Sam sighed as Kurogasa paced back and forth. "I know, Kuro."

"I mean, a giant set of ancient ruins? In the middle of your contest debut, no less!"

"I know, Kuro."

"And something big is happening. Somewhere, out there…"

Sam, for once, agreed with his traveling companion. "Something out there is waking up." Sam looked at his Topaz necklace, and thought of all the legends that circled around topaz stones in the Yinji region. "And it's not happy."

* * *

A few hours later, both Sam and Kuro were trying to get to sleep. Although it was anticlimactic, Susumu had been declared the winner of the battle because of the vast amount of points he was winning by when the earthquake struck.

One more hour after that, Sam was having a dream.

_He was flying over Kyobono Anotoshi, which, roughly translated from the old speech, was Furious Blue City. He admired the skilled architecture that was the work of such great artists. The hundreds of happy people, selling their works of art in the streets. Then, the earthquake came, sealing the town beneath layers upon layers of Granite and… Topaz? Sam tried to help, but was powerless. He was forced to watch as millions were dragged to the center of the city, a vortex of sinking stone. Sam looked up and saw a fleeting glimpse of a red, four-legged creature. _

_He heard a terrible laugh of pleasure._

Sam woke with a start. He gasped for breath, and sat up in his bed. He wad drenched in sweat, and he couldn't calm down. Sam checked his bedside clock. 6:27.

"What… was that dream?" Sam asked himself. "I-I remember this great town, and then… and then…" The dream was already slipping beyond Sam's memory, but one thing refused to leave. That cold, evil laugh would haunt Sam evermore.

Sam got dressed in his usual wear, glad to pack his contest clothes in his bag, for good. He didn't dislike contests anymore, but he would never become a full-time coordinator.

Sam walked out his door and slipped a note to Kurogasa under the doorway, explaining that he was going for a walk, and left.

Sam tried to forget himself in the scenery, but the more he tried, the more he thought about the dream, and the more he thought about the dream, the more he tried to forget. He soon became emotionally lost in himself.

When he regained his senses after about fifteen minutes of wandering aimlessly and thinking about what could've possibly made that horrible laugh, he heard a small noise. He could barely make out the noise, "Vui?"

Sam whirled around, and standing behind him was an Eevee. Sam felt like all his troubles had melted away. Eevee and its evolutions were his favorite Pokémon species. He even counted meeting an Eevee as good luck. Sam knelt down and held out his hand. "Hey little fella," he said gently.

The Eevee shied away for a minute, but then looked into Sam's face with a pleading look. "Vui?"

Now, Sam looked at the Eevee with greater scrutiny and saw two things: The mane of fur around its neck was ragged and slightly short in some places, and that its ribcages were showing. Sam gasped. "Hey Eevee, pal, you must be starving!"

The little Pokémon happily mumbled, in a feeble voice, "Eevee! Eevee Eve!"

Sam pulled out his Berry Case, thankful that he had brought his backpack on this stroll. The Eevee smelled the berries and crawled up close to Sam, who sat down with his legs criss-cross, and Eevee curled up in his lap. Sam then took out several of his Oran berries, two of his Sitrus berries, and, as a sign of friendship, one of his only two Lum Berries.

The Eevee gobbled up the Oran Berries without any hesitation, and one of the Sitrus berries, too, but only ate half of the second Sitrus Berry before falling asleep.

Sam looked down at the Pokémon sitting in his lap. It appeared that he had unintentionally adopted a homeless Pokémon.

So he picked up the Eevee in his arms and carried it to the Pokémon Center, and requested that Nurse Joy let him take it up to his room. Nurse Joy agreed, but only under conditions that he let her examine it before he did.

So when Kurogasa came downstairs, two hours later, he found Sam watching TV, waiting for Eevee to finish exams. "What's up, Sam?" He asked. "I thought you were going for a walk."

Sam explained the situation. Kuro looked at the ground. "So… you didn't even go to the ruins that popped out of nowhere yesterday?"

Sam shook his head. "I was too worried about my dream. I can't remember anything about it, but I remember that it was bad. What if it was a premonition?"

"Hey, relax, you just need to—"

For the second time in as many days, a loud, piercing screech interrupted a main character in this story.

Nurse joy flew out of the back room, shouting, "Sam! Eevee is crying!"

Sam beat Nurse Joy to the examination room. Sam was about to ask Nurse Joy if she knew what the cause was, but the crying stopped as soon as Eevee saw Sam's face.

Nurse Joy was stunned. "This Eevee… appears to love you, Sam."

_**END OF CHAPTER!**_

_**AH, a chapter that is a page and a half longer than what I usually write. I also wrote this chapter on my new MacBook Pro Yes, I now have a laptop, so now I can write on the go, and get chapters done faster! It'll still be slow going, but it won't be AS slow. **_

_**And for any skeptics, I have no intention of abandoning this story. I got two PM's already regarding the Kansai Story I posted. It's nothing to worry about, and it will receive minimal attention, compared to this story. It just felt like an obligation after the other two members of my trio of writers made Kansai stories.**_

_**Now, it's time for…**_

_**WHO'S THAT POKEMON?**_


	22. Chapter 22

_**Chapter 22!**_

_**Ok, I know that I've probably been rotting at the bottom of your favorites list for a while now, so I'm going to attempt to make more updates… I know that this probably won't happen until summer starts, but I WILL try to get more than just once a month, if it's even been less than a month since my last update. Sorry for the wait!**_

_**Also, Sorry about the who's that pokemon being gone. Kinda sad that only two people noticed it was missing… Or at least pointed it out.**_

"What do you mean it loves me, Nurse Joy?" The Eevee in question leaped off the examination table and into Sam's arms.

Nurse Joy smiled. "You fed a starving pokemon and gave it a place to sleep for the night. It's bound to have at least some emotional attachment to you."

Eevee snuggled deeper into Sam's arms with a satisfied, "Vui!"

Sam smiled. "Are all the examinations done?"

"Well, not all of them, but I know enough to release Eevee into your care, ok?"

Sam smiled. "Thank you so much Nurse Joy!"

Eevee seemed to snuggle even deeper into Sam's arms and shouted in glee. Nurse Joy smiled and Sam thanked her before returning to the main lobby. Sam joined Kuro by the couches and set down Eevee on his lap. Kuro seemed extremely agitated. "Kuro, what's wrong?"

Kuro seemed to twitch. "I need to see what's at that coliseum... It's just this nagging feeling… Something is bad over there… I just know it."

Sam nodded. "Ok, I'm coming with you. You wanna come too, Eevee?"

Eevee jumped up and down. "Vui, Vui! Eevee-eve!"

Sam nodded. "Ok! Let's do this!" He fished in his back pocket for a few seconds before pulling out a ping-pong ball-sized object. "Go, Pokeball!"

Sam lightly tapped the pokeball on Eevee's head, converting the smiling mass of fur into red energy. The pokeball immediately clicked shut with a ping. Sam smiled and said, "Ok Kuro, I'm ready."

Kuro nodded. "Ok, good. Let's go check it out."

"Whaddya mean we can't visit the ruins?"

Sam and Kuro were standing outside the giant ruins, talking to an Officer Jenny. She sadly said, "I'm sorry, but this isn't a tourist attraction. There are three missing boys who went missing during the earthquake, and if you interfere, you might mess up our efforts!"

Sam froze. "Excuse me officer, did you say three boys?"

"Yes, why?"

Sam felt his stomach fall through his feet. "What are their names?"

Officer Jenny pulled out a clipboard seemingly from thin air. "Their names are… Forrest, Alexander, and Kin."

Sam staggered as the world spun around him… "Kin, no…"Sam was faintly aware of Kurogasa holding him on his feet.

Sam slowly regained his sense of balance. "Officer… Kin is my brother; you gotta let me in! I have pokemon to help out!"

Officer Jenny thought. "Well, if you're related, I guess I can make an exception to the rule, but he," she pointed at Kurogasa, "has to stay out."

Kurogasa sulked. "Fine…"

Sam barreled past Officer Jenny, almost knocking her over. He was in the ruins before one could say, "stop."

Sam slowed down when he entered the sandstone building. He appeared to be in a large, circular room, with five staircases leading up and one leading down. The room was barren besides the six staircases, so all Sam could do was choose which one was the way to rescue his brother.

For what seemed like an eternity, Sam stood around and couldn't decide which was the way to Kin. Then, all of a sudden, he felt an overwhelming urge to go up the staircase to the far left. However, no sooner did he take the first step, the granite crumbled beneath his feet, and Sam was falling into darkness.

After Sam regained consciousness, he was lying down on a pile of stone, wondering where he was. He could see nothing but the hole in the ceiling, some thirty yards above him. It was a wonder Sam was in one piece!

Sam called out, "Hello?" No answer. He shakily stood up, and looked around. Pitch black. Sam fished in his pocket to look for something. He quickly found it. "Flare, come on out!" The little Poochember appeared with a tiny woof. "Ok Flare, we're looking for Kin, do you think you can help light the way?" Flare nodded. "Great, let's go."

So Sam and Poochember walked down off the rubble and into a small corridor, made of sandstone. There were many doorways in the hall, but when tested, none of them would open, and Sam wasn't strong enough to break any of the stone barriers down. After the fifth door, Sam gave up. Not even Flare could break down the doors.

Finally, Sam came to an open door at the very end of the long, winding corridor. He walked inside, and, to his surprise, there was candlelight! In such an old place, one would expect all flames to have died out a long time ago, but what Sam didn't know was that all of the many torches illuminating the room were Moltres flames, and would never go out.

The room was about forty feet long and thirty feet wide. Most of it was barren, except for torch holders on the walls, but at the end appeared to be some sort of shrine. Sam walked down the path to the end of the room. He was so mesmerized; He didn't notice his aquamarine stone begin to glow. As he walked down the hall, he saw writing in a long forgotten language, but also with some pictures. There were four pokemon in all, and the people depicted seemed to be kneeling before them. Then, Sam reached the end of the hall.

There was a table before him, and a giant carving on the wall behind it. Sam examined the table first. On it were numerous stone carvings, all of the same pokemon. It was four-legged, with a pyramid of rings at the end of a long, slender tail. Some of them showed the pokemon in a ferocious pose, but most showed a graceful pose. Sam tried to place the image, but couldn't. He KNEW he had seen it before, but didn't know where. 

The Sam shifted his gaze to the large portrait on the wall. It was much more detailed than the carvings, especially in the eyes, but it was a three-fourths front view of the same pokemon. There was a small, barely noticeable depression in the chest area. Then, Sam's memory suddenly clicked into place. He gasped. "OCORI!"

Suddenly, the soft blue light emitting from Sam's aquamarine stone rose to an unmatched brilliance. Sam shielded his face from the cobalt brilliance, and his eyes involuntarily closed tight. Then, after several seconds, the light faded, and Sam opened his eyes. His stone had stopped glowing, but the outline of the stone picture was glowing the same blue color as Sam's necklace had been. Then, Sam pulled the stone and string off his neck. For some strange reason, he felt compelled to place it in the small depression in Ocori's chest. As soon as he did so, he felt a strange, almost numbing power surge through him. Sam looked at his hands to see a light blue aura envelop them, as well as his entire body. Flare barked, but Sam was oblivious. He stood square to the wall and spoke. "Sooray chigau beki korubanto pendanudo no jisan nin wo." The words coming out of his mouth were foreign, yet they held special meaning, for the wall cracked in two, and Sam removed his pendant from the carving. He walked through the new door, returning Flare as he did so.

The blue aura disappeared as Sam walked into a small, dark room with four small everlasting torches. It was small, perfectly square, and the only way out was the way Sam went in. In the center was a blue sphere that seemed to be giving off another blue light. Without thinking, Sam touched it, and was suddenly hit with a bright ray of sunshine.

He was standing on nothing but sunlight, and standing in front of him was Ocori. It was the familiar, four-legged figure with the slender tail and the floating pyramid of rings that surrounded the end of the aforementioned tail. The mysterious, blue eyes that showed all yet hid everything… Sam smiled.

"Hello at last, Ocori." Somehow, he knew Ocori would reply.

"_Hi Sam, great to finally meet you!"_

Sam smiled. Ocori seemed friendly. "So, um… Where are we?"

The voice filled Sam's head again. _"We are in the Celestial Plains… It's where my spirit lies while my body sleeps."_

__Sam cocked his head. "Whaddya mean by that?"

Ocori inclined its head. _"Some pokemon, such as myself, when they sink into deep enough sleep, their spirits separate from their bodies and come here for rest._

Sam was even more confused. "So where's your body?"

Ocori tilted its head to the side, as if confused. _"Since you're talking to me, I'd say you're holding it."_

Sam nearly leapt back. "What? You mean that blue orb thingy is your material body? But I saw you back at the Lake!"

Ocori seemed to smile. _"That was just an apparition. Psychic Powers come from the soul, not mind, contrary to popular belief, and I can use them while asleep. I teleported the pendant and attracted you to it. That was where our rudimentary contact was made."_

Sam nodded. "Ok, I get it now. So, what happened to make the ruins rise above the ground?"

Ocori was amused._ "The Three pendant-bearers and Psycat's partner were all gathered in the same place, I assume."_

"Who are they?"

"_Even I don't know that, but you are the bearer of the Cobalt Pendant, and therefore my partner."_

Sam smiled. "That's just awesome! So, you said earlier that our bond is 'rudimentary'… What did you mean by that?"

Ocori made a chuckling sound. _"Just wait."_

Suddenly, Sam's vision began to go white. The vision of Ocori began to fade, and all of a sudden, he was standing back in the room. He was no longer holding the sphere, and had a small blue triangle on the outside of his left hand.

He could barely see in the light, but a voice sounded inside his head. _"Man, you humans have REALLY bad sight. When I went to sleep here, this place was bright as day, even without windows!"_

Sam jumped. "What? Who said that?"

The voice sounded again. _"Hahaha, this is fun! Come on Sam, let's go!"_

Sam looked around. "Who are you? Show yourself!"

The voice giggled. _"Sam, it's me, Ocori! didn't I tell you that our bond would grow deeper?"_

Sam was irritated. "Yeah, but you didn't say you'd be INSIDE MY FREAKING HEAD!"

Ocori huffed. _"It's just a mental connection. My body is actually in your backpack, not your head, and my spirit is still at the Celestial Plains… You sure you're up to being a pendant-wearer?"_

Sam sighed. "Yeah, just do a little bit better explaining next time… So can you help me look for my twin, Kin?"

"_He's already here. Walk out of the shrine dedicated to me and take the left at the three-way intersection… I can sense that he's with Psycat and someone else… I don't know who, though."_

Sam thanked Ocori, who became quiet. He began to run down the hallway, when the world shook around him. "Sam lost his footing. "Earthquake!" He shouted.

_**There we go! Was it worth the wait? Let me know, please!**_

_**So just to let you know, I'm not happy that I made the decision to let some of Nintendos pokemon be in the Yiji Dex, and Me and PTL are hard at work trying to come up with new ones. Once we finish the renovations, we'll change the dex, so look out for that!**_

_**Also, Since only two people really give a flying rat's a** about the WTP, I'm going to discontinue it unless at least four people ask for it back in the reviews, so none this week either. Sorry.**_


End file.
